Post-Credits
by Elias Pedro
Summary: Monika and Sayori start their first full day with the new Literature Club, but Monika notices that something is amiss. [Part 3 of the Post-Credits Series]
1. Script

**Script**

As soon as classes ended that afternoon, Monika made her way over to the clubroom. She navigated the familiar steps through the halls of the old building pensively as she listened to the echo of her own footsteps.

It would have been so much easier to bring up the console commands and render herself into the clubroom, Monika thought. However, both she and Sayori promised each other to only use the commands when they absolutely had to. The two of them were trying to restore their daily lives, after all - and walking to the clubroom was a part of it.

That sense of normalcy she sought was why Monika decided to come back in the first place.

Monika reached the clubroom doors before long and she saw that it was already open. The Vice President stepped inside and saw Sayori going around the classroom to tidy up. All the while, she was humming the tune of 'Your Reality'.

Sayori noticed the Vice President poking her head into the classroom and then turned to her with a smile.

"Good afternoon, Monika!"

As soon as she said this, the .ogg file for Sayori's version of 'Okay, Everyone!' started to play. Monika returned the smile and greeted,

"Good afternoon too, Sayori. I see you've been practicing with the sound files. That transition just now was good!"

Sayori shyly joined her pointer fingers together and asked,

"Ahehe, you think so? Thank goodness!"

"Practice makes perfect, Sayori! At this rate, I think you'll be able to run Chapter 2 - and the rest of the chapters without a hitch!"

"I sure hope so! This is the first time we're exchanging poems with the rest of the Club, so I'm a little nervous. Who knows what'll happen when we start sharing with the others."

That was right, Monika thought.

They restored the poem game as best as they could and then used that to generate themes for their poems. The Player was already long gone, after all, and someone had to play the game and move the story forward. Monika and Sayori were going to be those people, but neither of them knew for sure if it was going to be a success.

Despite that, Monika shored up her courage and gently patted Sayori on the shoulder and said,

"It'll be a learning experience for the both of us, Sayori. I'll be here to help you out too so don't worry!"

Sayori brightened up and managed to put on a confident smile as she said,

"Thanks Monika. I'll be in your care again today~!"

As they were speaking, the petite, pink-haired figure of Natsuki eagerly marched into the clubroom and started rummaging through the closet. Not long afterwards, the tall, beautiful figure of Yuri entered the classroom and she quietly found a seat at the far corner of the room where she began to read.

Natsuki and Yuri were doing their own thing again as usual, Monika hummed. The two of them were still following the original script by the letter. Monika and Sayori, on the other hand, have already long since broken off from the original script.

Sayori then thought out loud,

"I wonder if the Chapter 2 events will still trigger. The story normally would have progressed depending on the words in Protagonist's poem, but the Player isn't here anymore to choose for him anymore."

Monika thoughtfully hummed. Then, a crafty smile grew on her lips as she said,

"Why don't we try this, then? Let me help you with your blazer."

The Vice President then reached over to Sayori's open blazer and then started trying to button it down.

"H-hey, Monika!"

"Come on, Sayori. It's worth a try~!"

As Monika buttoned up Sayori's blazer, Sayori's Chapter 2 CG came into view. The Vice President then triumphantly beamed,

"Ahaha~ it triggered!"

Sayori was flustered at first, but she noticed the CG as well and said,

"I-it actually worked. We can trigger events like this too, huh?"

"Looks like it!"

"B-but we don't have to worry about my events, Monika. I'm already sentient!"

"I know, I know. But..."

"But what?"

"The Player had a really good view of you in this CG, Sayori. You look really cute in this angle - i'm kinda jealous!"

Sayori's face flushed red as she groaned,

"M-Monikaaa~! You're having too much fun with this!"

Monika promptly let go of Sayori's blazer and the CG faded back to the classroom scene. The Vice President quickly apologized,

"Ahahaha~ sorry about that!"

Sayori raised up her clenched fists and pouted as she said,

"You meanie~!"

Moments later, the soundtrack changed to 'Ohayou, Sayori!' and the President beamed at Monika. All was forgiven, it seemed.

Just as the President and Vice President made amends, Natsuki stiffly approached Sayori. The pink-haired girl had her copy of _Parfait Girls_ Volume 1 in her hands.

Natsuki's face was flushed and she kept her eyes away from Sayori as she said,

"T-thanks for letting me keep my manga in the clubroom, Sayori. Here's the manga I promised to lend you."

"Oh my! T-thanks for this, Natsuki."

Monika put a hand on her hip and hummed. It seems that Sayori triggered Natsuki's event when she wrote her poem, Monika thought.

However, as Natsuki and Sayori were talking, Yuri joined in on the conversation as well. The tall beauty also had a book of her own with her - _The Portrait of Markov._

Yuri sheepishly fidgeted around for a moment before she finally spoke,

"Uhm… Sayori. I… also wanted to thank you… for talking to the teacher about my tea set. To show my appreciation, I wanted to lend you a book too."

No way, Monika thought. Sayori triggered Natsuki's _**and**_ Yuri's events at once!

Monika then chuckled. She recalled how the words that appealed to Sayori in the poem game were words that also appealed to either Natsuki and Yuri. Knowing Sayori, she would have probably chosen her words that Natsuki and Yuri liked equally.

Still, Monika couldn't imagine being in the same situation as Sayori. She would have been rather flustered. Monika wasn't exactly good at dealing with other people after all. Sayori, on the other hand, took the turn of events in stride.

Sayori clapped her hands and happily suggested,

"I know! Why don't the three of us read together? We can have some tea too while we're at it!"

Natsuki cautiously tilted her head and Yuri hid behind her book, but Sayori gently insisted,

"C'mon, it'll be fun~!"

Before long, Natsuki agreed and Yuri followed suit. Sayori cheered and then excused herself from Monika.

"I'll leave the rest to you for now, Monika. Call us to share poems when the Protagonist gets here."

Monika nodded and she watched as Sayori sat together with Yuri and Natsuki at the desks.

Yeah. There was no way that she would have been able to handle that situation that gracefully, Monika thought. Sayori had everything under control - and she didn't even have to use console commands.

Out of everyone else in the Literature Club, Monika always considered Sayori as her biggest rival when it came to reaching through to the Player's heart. Now that the Player was gone, Monika couldn't help but to see the cheerful bundle of sunshine with admiration.

As Monika was lost in her thoughts, a fifth figure approached her from the side and said,

"Sayori's pretty amazing, huh?"

Monika was caught by surprise. She turned around and then saw the nameless Protagonist there. He was still the same placeholder character that he had been in the game and his sprite was just something that Monika and Sayori put together from one of Sayori's CGs. Neither she nor Sayori made any changes to the Protagonist's scripting since they hardly knew anything about the Player that he was supposed to represent.

However, Monika didn't recall seeing the Protagonist's latest comment in the script at all. He wasn't supposed to have snuck up on her either.

Was the Protagonist breaking from the script?

Monika took a quick breath and decided to humor him. She wanted to see where this deviation went, so she replied,

"That's why Sayori's the Club President. The role really suits her."

That was why Monika chose Sayori to be her Vice President too in the first place, but she kept that thought to herself.

The Protagonist took some time to think but he soon nodded in agreement as he continued,

"Sayori has been my childhood friend for a long time. The two of us have been taking care of each other, but I worried about her sometimes. She's an airhead after all - and she thinks of others a bit too much for her own good."

The Protagonist then folded his arms as he turned to Sayori, Natsuki and Yuri and said,

"Seeing Sayori here being happy with everyone, though - I probably shouldn't have worried too much about her. She's changed ever since she made this club, and that's probably a good thing."

Monika nodded and said,

"She's still as happy-go-lucky as I remember her, but she has definitely matured. She's much stronger than she looks now."

"I know, right? Sayori has always been precious to me, but it seems she's precious to everyone else in this club as well."

Monika agreed with the Protagonist's words. However, she was trying to figure out _whose_ words they were. The Protagonist was breaking script and he seemed to be much less dense than he was written out to be.

The Player was long gone, wasn't he? Monika couldn't sense anything anymore though the 'Hole in the Wall'. Sayori didn't seem to notice anything either.

 _Who_ was speaking through the Protagonist?

Before Monika could say anything, the motivated expression on the Protagonist's face fizzled away into a blank stare - the same kind of stare that he had during his many inner monologues.

Monika brought out her notepad and checked the game history. The protagonist _was_ going through his Chapter 2 monologues as if nothing had happened.

However, there was no trace of the Protagonist's off-script words at all.

It made Monika wonder. Was there another 'script' that she and Sayori weren't seeing?

She couldn't have been imagining things, could she?

 **To Be Continued**


	2. Route

**Route**

After the Literature Club members finished sharing their poems that afternoon, Monika finally found a chance to talk to Sayori. The Vice President went over to Sayori and then softly whispered,

"Hey Sayori. We need to talk."

The club president curiously tilted her head and asked,

"What's up, Monika? Is something wrong?"

"I'm not quite sure just yet, Sayori, but I can't talk about it here. Come outside with me for a bit."

Monika's tone didn't sit well with Sayori, so she decided to hear her vice president out.

The two girls excused themselves and they headed out of the clubroom together.

The Vice President closed the door behind them then heaved a sigh. Sayori noticed the anxious air hanging about Monika, so she asked with genuine concern,

"What is it, Monika?"

Monika fidgeted around for a bit before she managed to bring her hands down to her sides. She then faced Sayori and started recounting the strange, off-script conversation she had with the Protagonist earlier that afternoon.

Sayori listened intently and took her time as she carefully thought about Monika's story. She furrowed her brow and thoughtfully joined her pointer fingers as she racked her brains,

"Hmm… what if he was just reacting to the new scene that played out a while ago? He reacted differently to things when you edited the script in Act 2, didn't he?"

Monika shook her head and then explained,

"That was only because I rewrote the Protagonist's speech to match the changes that I made, Sayori. The Protagonist didn't react to any of the… glitches that popped up in Act 2. Anything he did was guided by the Player back then. But when I was talking to the Protagonist just now, I felt like I was talking to someone else entirely!"

Sayori lowered her hands and chimed,

"But the Protagonist followed the Chapter 2 script afterwards, didn't he? Though, come to think of it, he didn't seem to trigger anyone's special events today."

Monika joined her hands behind her back and she had suddenly had a fun idea. The Vice President leaned towards Sayori and playfully teased,

"I have a feeling that it might be because you triggered both Natsuki's and Yuri's events at the same time. You were pretty popular today, you know~!"

Sayori's face flushed red when she remembered that. She then raised up her clenched fists and pouted as she reminded,

"You also triggered my event when you tried fixing my blazer too!"

"Ahaha~! I did, didn't I? Sorry about that - I couldn't help it!"

"Jeez~"

The President then shook her clenched fists with urgency and asked,

"In any case, what are we going to do about this off-script thingy?"

Monika put a hand on her hip and suggested,

"I've been thinking about that since a while ago. You're scripted to walk home with the Protagonist after the club meeting today aren't you? Why don't you go through with that for now."

She then raised up her pointer finger and said,

"While you're with him, I'll stay behind and inspect the resources and the game code. The tiniest hiccups can cause the largest problems - and they're usually the hardest ones to find."

Sayori nodded gamely and agreed,

"Okay, let's do that! You know the code better than I do, so I'll leave that stuff to you. I'll walk the Protagonist home and look out for anything suspicious."

"Be careful though, Sayori. You don't know what might happen so it might be good to make a new save file."

"Oh, you're right! That way, we'll have something to come back to."

"I hope we don't have to use it though..."

Sayori joined her hands together and assured,

"Ahehehe, of course!"

The two girls brought out their respective notebooks and they each made a new save file. When they were finished, Sayori faced Monika then earnestly added,

"But I want you to take care of yourself too, Monika. Don't push yourself too hard, okay? You seem to be on edge today, after all."

"D-do I?"

Sayori nodded and then said,

"When you're done checking things out, I want you to go straight home so you can kick back and relax. I know that's what I'm going to do when I get home. Until the Chapter 3 poem game starts, at least!"

A complex expression formed on Monika's face when she heard Sayori's request. The Vice President laughed uncomfortably then coyly mused,

"Ah… about that. You know, I don't exactly have a home to return to in this game."

Sayori's jaw dropped open as she gasped,

"You don't!?"

"Nope! And neither do Yuri and Natsuki. That's why the two of them were scripted to visit the Protagonist's house for the festival prep in Chapter 5."

"Yikes… come to think of it, that's true. But wait! If that's true, then what the heck did you do after I went home yesterday, Monika?"

Monika scratched her face with embarrassment and avoided Sayori's probing eyes as she confessed,

"Ah… ahahaha. Well, I just stayed in school and worked on the new script till the evening. I worked on my poem too here and there. Then when I was done, I un-rendered my sprite and brought it back the next morning!"

Sayori didn't like this answer at all. She clenched her fists with disappointment and chided,

"That won't do, Monika! Weren't we going to restore our daily lives? Normal people don't stay overnight in school and then pop in and out of existence like that!"

"Ahahaha… That's… true…"

Monika wanted to tell Sayori about about the lives of college students during thesis season, but she decided to hold back that thought.

While Monika was thinking of something else to say, Sayori suddenly extended her hand towards Monika and asked,

"Monika. Gimme your phone real quick."

"My phone…?"

Monika wasn't quite sure what Sayori wanted to do with her phone, but the club president kept her hand up. There was no way that she could say no to Sayori when she was that determined, so Monika conceded,

"Fine. Here."

Sayori took Monika's phone and started typing something up. Moments later, Sayori handed Monika her phone back and smiled,

"I added my number to your contacts! That way, we can quickly contact each other if anything goes wrong."

"Ah, that makes sense."

"Also, I added my home address as well~! I just had this idea, you see. Why don't you come over to my place after I walk the Protagonist home? You can stay overnight there until we can render your house. We can work on Yuri's and Natsuki's homes too while we're at it!"

"A-at your place? Is that really alright?"

"Ehehe, of course! We haven't really bonded outside of the Literature Club in any of the routes. I figured now would be a good time to start~! Plus, we'll be able to tackle this issue of ours with clear minds if we're both well rested!"

"Sayori…"

The club president then joined her pointer fingers together again and asked,

"You have to help me make dinner, though! All I can cook is breakfast stuff, ahehe~"

Monika put her hands on her hips and smiled back at Sayori,

"Alright then, Miss Sunshine. I'll take you up on your offer~!"

Sayori's eyes brightened up as she gasped,

"You will? Sweet! You're the best, Moni~!"

"Moni?"

"Ahehe~"

Before Sayori could say anything else, the school bell rang and marked the end of club activities for the day. The club president then chuckled and called,

"Come on now, Monika! Let's get this show on the road!"

Monika nodded and the two of them went back into the clubroom.

Sayori and Monika dismissed the club for the day and the two watched as Yuri and Natsuki made their way out of the clubroom as usual.

Yuri and Natsuki were going to go out of the school and then un-render their sprites as they were programmed to do at the end of the day. The Vice President was familiar with the process after all. However, that was the first time that Monika ever thought about that mechanical routine as something sad.

Moments later, Sayori went over to the Protagonist and began the scripted scene that she had with him.

Storywise, Sayori and the Protagonist were going to walk home together for the first time in a long while. In practice, however, it was a simple scene transition to the road home. It wasn't anything that Sayori couldn't handle.

Still, as Sayori and the Protagonist made their way out of the clubroom, the club president flashed Monika a smile then waved goodbye.

Monika waved back and the sprites of Sayori and the Protagonist disappeared together.

Now that she was alone in the clubroom, Monika began her investigation.

The vice president dutifully patrolled the school and entered every rendered room with her notebook in hand. At every room, Monika flipped through the pages of her notebook and checked the resources listed there - from the background art to the music to the conversations that were scripted to happen in the rooms.

Half an hour would pass like that, but Monika couldn't find anything out of place. There were no telltale signs of any of the Act 2 stuff in the current build of the game. The traceback text file didn't have anything new either.

It made Monika wonder. What if the Protagonist broke script because of something outside of the game? What if it was something that was beyond even Monika's control?

As Monika was pondering, her cellphone buzzed.

It was a text from Sayori.

" _Hey Moni! Just dropped the Protagonist off at his home. Nothing weird happened! You can come on over now :-)_ "

Monika smiled and sent her reply,

" _Good to hear! I'm heading there now._ "

With that, the Vice President pocketed her phone and she traced her way back to the clubroom to get her things. Going around aimlessly wasn't going to get her investigation anywhere, Monika thought. A good night's sleep and a nice dinner might help her clear the air too.

Thinking about that, Monika found herself walking down the halls with a brisk and happy pace.

That was the first time that Monika looked forward to anything aside from Literature Club meetings - or chances to speak with the Player. She was also amused by how close she and Sayori had gotten ever since the President convinced her to come back and join the club again.

It made Monika wonder if she was the one on the Sayori route.

Monika chuckled and thought out loud,

"That probably wouldn't be so bad~! Ahaha, what am I thinking?"

Monika then reached the clubroom and was about to grab her things and go when she noticed something strange. The clubroom closet door was slightly open - even though Monika was sure that she closed it only a while ago.

There wasn't supposed to be anyone else left at the school either after club activities.

Monika's heart started to race, but she took a deep breath and pulled herself together.

She then brought out her notebook and kept it on the page where she wrote her save file. Monika held her notebook close to her chest as she called out,

"Is anyone there?"

Suddenly, Monika heard a gasp followed by a shuffle of feet coming from inside the closet.

There was somebody inside!

Monika gripped her notebook tightly and she burst into the clubroom closet to confront the person. The Vice President looked inside and was surprised by what she saw.

There in the darkness of the closet, Monika found a person - a girl - with her back pressed against the storage racks. The girl's hands were trembling and her face was pale from fright.

On top of that, she was holding onto the second volume of Parfait Girls in her shaky hands.

Monika blinked twice in disbelief and then asked

"... Natsuki?"

 **To Be Continued**


	3. Home

**Home**

There was a moment of tense silence as Monika faced Natsuki in the clubroom closet that late afternoon.

Monika saw the pink-haired girl with her back pressed against the storage racks. All the while, Natsuki was holding the second volume of _Parfait Girls_ with her trembling hands.

Once Natsuki had a closer look at Monika, however, she frowned and groaned,

"Oh, it's just the new girl. Sheesh~"

Monika curiously tilted her head. Was Natsuki hoping it was someone else?

In any case, Monika noted, Natsuki was definitely going off script. Natsuki wasn't supposed to have any more lines after the club meeting and her sprite wasn't supposed to appear again until the next morning.

Yet there she was, talking with Monika while putting on airs,

"Listen here, new girl. You shouldn't sneak up on people like that. You may be the Veep, but I was about to tackle you, you know!"

Tackle? Wasn't that a bit much?

Monika rubbed her chin and argued,

"I didn't sneak up on you, though. I asked if there was anyone in the closet. Then I heard noises inside, so I rushed in."

"Kuh!"

Natsuki flushed red with frustration. She didn't expect Monika to call her bluff so bluntly.

It was only then that Monika realized her blunder and she grew embarrassed. Monika wasn't very good at dealing with other people to begin with. Not having a script to follow for that encounter didn't help either.

Natsuki heaved a sigh then folded her arms as she asked,

"So. What exactly are you still doing here in school?"

"Ah! I was just running a quick… uhm…"

Monika stopped herself. She was about to blurt out 'resource check', after all.

The vice president cleared her throat and hid her notebook behind her back as she corrected herself,

"I had some errands to run. I finished just now and I was just about to head out."

Monika then faced Natsuki and asked,

"What about you, Natsuki? What are you still doing here?"

Natsuki turned away from Monika as soon as she asked this. After a moment of silence, the pink-haired girl finally admitted,

"Fine. I'll cut the crap already. I don't want to go home."

"Natsuki…"

Monika truly was at a loss now. She had no idea what to say to Natsuki at all.

When the game was still on and the Player was still around, Monika hardly paid any attention to Natsuki - or any of the other girls. She only saw them as bunches of code that got in the way of her plans. Yet, there was still some sort of harmony during Act 1.

The original script held the club together.

After Monika deleted Sayori in Act 2, however, that harmony burst like a bubble. Monika never made an effort to understand Natsuki and Yuri and things got completely out of hand.

In the end, she deleted Natsuki and Yuri too.

Remorse brewed up in Monika's heart when she remembered this.

Natsuki was waiting for Monika's reply, but the vice president had nothing.

Monika then closed her eyes and wondered,

' _What would Sayori say_?'

As Monika was lost in her thoughts, her cellphone buzzed.

She opened her eyes and brought out her phone.

It was a text from Sayori,

" _Hey Moni! Where are you now? I've already done the prep work~!"_

That gave Monika an idea.

Monika faced Natsuki and suggested,

"Say Natsuki… if you don't want to back to your home, then maybe you'd like to come by Sayori's place with me instead!"

…

Ten minutes later, Monika was heading down the quiet suburban road with Natsuki in tow.

The two of them were headed over to Sayori's house, but the pink-haired girl trailed a pace and a half behind Monika. Natsuki hardly said a word to Monika along the way either. It was almost as if she was wary of Monika somehow.

Regardless, Natsuki agreed to go with her to Sayori's. That was good enough for Monika.

The pink-haired girl seemed to hold Sayori in high regard, Monika thought, so she figured that bringing Natsuki along would be the most efficient way to go about things.

However, Monika suddenly realized that she forgot to let Sayori know about the change in plans!

The vice president whipped out her phone and started texting her host.

* * *

"Hey Sayori."

"I'm on my way there now, but…"

"Did something come up, Moni?"

"Ahaha~ I guess you could say that."

"What happened?"

"Do we need to load a save file?"

"I don't think so. It's just that…"

"Natsuki's tagging along with me."

"Huh!? Natsuki?"

"Long story, Sayori, I tell you."

"Let's talk when we get there."

"But is that alright with you?"

"Bringing Natsuki over, that is."

"Well, that's fine with me."

"I'll be waiting for you two."

"So stay safe! :-)"

"Thanks. We will. ^^"

* * *

Monika smiled when she sent her last reply.

As Monika was reading through their conversation, however, she noticed that Natsuki was peeking beside her arm. The pink-haired girl then piped with amusement,

"Ehh… I didn't know you and the Prez texted each other."

Natsuki was eagerly reading through Monika's conversation with Sayori as well, so Monika was flustered and quickly hid her phone. The vice president then stammered her question,

"W-what about it?"

"Well, I was wondering why Sayori chose you to be her Veep. I mean, you're pretty popular in the school and all… but there had to be more than that."

Monika joined her hands behind her back and carefully chose her words,

"Sayori and I… the two of us have been through a lot."

She then looked up to the clear blue sky as she continued,

"It's hard to put it into words, but… Sayori helped me through a dark time in my life."

"That so?"

As they were talking, Monika and Natsuki reached the gates of Sayori's home.

The bright, blue-eyed Sayori was waiting for them at the porch, wearing a cute orange apron with a tiny green heart on the side.

Sayori beamed as soon as she saw Monika and Natsuki and eagerly waved to them. The club president then greeted,

"Welcome home, you two~!"

Seeing Sayori calling out to them while dressed like that made Monika think of a newlywed housewife.

The look suited her, Monika mused beneath her breath.

Natsuki, on the other hand, was oddly silent - even though she was pretty talkative just moments ago.

The pink-haired girl lowered her head as they went in through the gate and met Sayori at the porch.

Sayori faced her two visitors and announced,

"The two of you arrived just in time. I already went ahead and made dinner for the three of us~!"

Natsuki raised her head and gasped,

"D-dinner?"

Sayori nodded and gestured to her guests,

"Come on inside you two~! You guys must be hungry!"

Monika and Natsuki obliged and followed Sayori into her home.

The club president led her guests into the kitchen and then sat them together at the dining table.

Monika then turned to Sayori from where she sat and asked,

"Wasn't I supposed to help you out with dinner?"

"You were - but I didn't want to trouble my guests. You guys had a long day, I'm sure."

Sayori then raised up her clenched fists with excitement and explained with a bright tone,

"I haven't had friends come over in a while too, so let me spoil you guys this time! Ahehe~!"

A smile grew on Monika's face as she remarked,

"Sayori…"

The club president then snickered and warned,

"I've only made breakfast stuff though, so I had to improvise. But I think it turned out well."

Sayori then brought out two plates and proudly announced,

"Ta-dah~! I made hot open-faced breakfast sandwiches!"

Monika and Natsuki turned to the plates in Sayori's hands and gasped.

The sandwiches that Sayori made were simple but looked wonderful together.

Sayori placed the first plate before Monika and explained,

"Monika's a vegetarian, so I topped hers with avocado and tomatoes."

"Ahaha, you remembered that!"

"Ehehe, of course I would, Monika!"

She then went over to Natsuki and set the second plate before. Sayori joined her hands together with excitement as she continued,

"Natsuki and I will be having eggs and ham on top!"

Breakfast food for dinner, Monika thought. What a novel idea!

Sayori put her own plate on the table and happily hummed as she sat face to face with the sunny-side up egg atop the slices of toast bread. Monika faced her avocado toast with hungry eyes.

The two of them then turned over to Natsuki to see what she thought about the food.

However, they saw Natsuki on the verge of tears instead.

Natsuki noticed Monika and Sayori watching her, so she wiped her tears with the back of her hand. Then, in between sobs, she started to speak,

"You know… I… I only realized this just now. But this is...the first time… that I… that I had somebody waiting for me at the door. This is… the first time in a long while that I had... a full meal like this…"

Natsuki managed to lift up her head and face Monika and Sayori as she added,

"This is also the first time i've eaten with other people. I almost forgot what it was like…"

The pink-haired girl then wore a bright but tearful smile and declared,

"This is the happiest i've been in a damn long time!"

Monika and Sayori watched on in awe, as the tears in Natsuki's eyes glistened and slid down her cheeks. The pink-haired girl's voice cracked up, but she still managed to say,

"T-thanks…for the meal!"

…

…

…

After dinner, Sayori served cups of hot chocolate for the three of them at the table.

Natsuki leisurely blew on her cup and sipped her hot chocolate with delight. Monika, on the other hand, looked into her cup as she carefully chose her words,

"Are you feeling better now, Natsuki?"

The pink-haired girl nodded and took another sip of hot chocolate.

Monika thoughtfully rubbed her hands and continued,

"Alright then. I'm not sure how to go about this, but…"

Natsuki then suddenly set down her cup and guessed the rest of Monika's sentence,

"We're in a game, aren't we?"

Monika was surprised by the reply, so she asked,

"W-when did you figure it out?"

Natsuki rubbed her chin and hummed,

"I guess I kind of felt it after classes ended for the day. I started getting this sense of dojo boo or something."

" _Deja vu_." Monika corrected.

"Yeah, that! I wasn't really good with those big words anyways. Anyways…! Where was I?"

Sayori sat down with her own cup of chocolate then cheerfully reminded,

"You were talking about _daijobu_."

Monika was about to correct Sayori too, but she held her tongue.

Natsuki noticed this and hissed,

"... special treatment."

The pink-haired girl then cleared her throat then continued,

"Alright - I started getting that feeling when I was on my way to the club. I started remembering things about that were going to happen today. I was kinda freaked out. I remembered the crazy stuff that Monika did too."

The pink-haired girl then turned towards Monika and explained,

"That's why I kinda tried to stay away from you today, Monika. Then I realized that that wouldn't have mattered if you suddenly decided to delete me."

Monika lowered her head and was about to apologize when Natsuki shook her head and said,

"We're cool now, kay? Just… no more deleting, please. Please?"

"Of course."

Natsuki nodded then turned over to Sayori to say,

"I also remembered what happened to you at the end of Act 1, Sayori. As soon as that happened, I wanted to try and cheer you up y'know. I didn't know if you were into manga, but I had to try something."

Sayori smiled at Natsuki and said,

"Thanks for that Natsuki - I mean it."

Natsuki grinned at Sayori and replied,

"Don't mention it~!"

Sayori nodded then took a sip of her chocolate. She then heaved a satisfied sigh and added,

"There was something else we wanted to ask you today, Natsuki. You said that you didn't want to go home today. Why was that?"

A frown formed on Natsuki's lips when Sayori said that. The pink-haired girl held her cup with both hands and recounted,

"I remembered the Act 2 shit that went down. My backstory isn't a good one to begin with, no doubt about that. But it was blown out of proportion when the game went to hell."

Natsuki watched the ripples in her cup of chocolate and admitted,

"My memories are still hazy, but I know my dad. He's overworked. He gets mad quickly. But he wasn't anything close what happened in Act 2. However, I don't know what's waiting for me in that goddamned house. Either way, my problem with my dad isn't something I should be running away from."

She then faced Monika and Sayori and explained,

"I realized something today, you know. If I can still patch things up with my dad, then I'll do what I can to fix it. But if that doesn't work out, then I'll move out and do what I have to do. I'm legal age. I can stand on my own two feet."

Sayori eagerly nodded and assured,

"Monika and I will help you out as much as we can, Natsuki."

Monika then chimed in,

"The Literature Club will also be there for you, Natsuki. You can think of it as a second home."

Natsuki grinned and nodded at the two,

"It already does feel like a home for me. Thanks, guys!"

* * *

The three girls spent the next hour or so talking about what had happened so far. Over cups of hot chocolate, Monika and Sayori brought Natsuki up to speed as much as they could.

Come a quarter to eight in the evening, however, Natsuki got up from her seat and said that she had to go home. They set aside their plates and cups and headed out to Sayori's porch. There, Natsuki bid farewell to her clubmates.

As Natsuki was putting on her shoes, Sayori approached her and asked,

"Are you sure you don't want to stay over, Natsuki?"

Natsuki nodded and explained,

"My home might not be rendered yet, but it's there."

Sayori joined her pointer fingers as she urged,

"Be careful though, okay?"

"I will, I will!"

Monika then came forward and reminded,

"Don't forget about tomorrow's poems too, Natsuki!"

Natsuki grinned and boasted,

"I've got hell of a lot of material for writing now, so I'll whip up a great poem for tomorrow! It'll probably blow even Yuri's socks off!"

Natsuki's enthusiasm brought a smile to Monika's lips. The vice president then said,

"We'll be looking forward to that, then! See you tomorrow!"

"See ya, guys!"

With that, Natsuki headed down the suburban road with a happy pace as Monika and Sayori saw her off. The two girls watched from the porch as Natsuki turned a corner and unrendered her sprite.

As the two girls were looking out, the background music suddenly changed to 'Dreams of Love and Literature'. Sayori quickly turned to Monika and gasped,

"The poem game's about to start!"

"Looks like it, Sayori. This time, there's gonna be three of us writing poems."

"Ehehe, that's true. I'm sure that we'll be able to reach out to Yuri soon at this rate."

"Yuri, huh…"

Sayori noticed Monika's silence, so she asked with concern,

"Something on your mind, Monika?"

The vice president hummed and thought about what she was going to say. However, she held her tongue and shook her head,

"It's nothing. Let's focus on writing our poems for now, okay?"

"Okay~! Let me go fetch my notebook."

Sayori eagerly marched back into her home.

Monika was about to follow Sayori's lead when she suddenly felt a chill run up her spine.

For a brief moment, Monika felt as if the _atmosphere_ had changed somehow. She felt as if there was someone _watching_ her.

The vice president quickly turned to the moonlit suburban road, _but there was nobody there_.

And yet, Monika's _heart was beating_ hard against her chest.

There was _supposed to be nothing wrong_ with the script and the game was in working order.

 _Why, then, did she still feel so unsettled?_

 **To Be Continued**

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Hey there everyone! Thanks for all the support that you've given to the Post-Credits series so far! It's been a wonderful experience writing this series thanks to you all~!

So with that, I wanted to wish you all a happy new year! Here's to a great 2018!

...

...

...

...

...

 **SSBjYW4gc2VlIHlvdS4=**


	4. Choice

**Choice**

Sunlight poured in through the window of Sayori's bedroom that early Thursday morning and gently roused Monika from her slumber.

The vice president stirred in Sayori's bed, wearing the pajamas that Sayori had loaned to her while her long, light brown hair was untied and flowed gracefully down her back. She opened her emerald green eyes and then saw Sayori's room painted in the shifting colors of the dawn.

That was the first time she saw any room in the game rendered in the early morning, Monika thought. It was also the first time that she had gone to 'sleep' with her sprite fully intact.

Waking up from that pleasant lull was a completely different experience from simply disappearing from and reappearing into existence like Monika was used to doing.

This new experience was incredibly refreshing.

Bathing in the light of the morning sun like that, Monika truly felt that she had a brand new lease on life - and she owed it to the girl who was still sleeping peacefully beside her on the bed.

As Monika tried to stretch the rest of her lingering drowsiness away, the sleeping Sayori stirred and shifted around.

Sayori's hand brushed against the locks of Monika's long hair and the president calmly muttered,

"Moni… we'll have… a great festival… with everyone…"

Sayori looked like she was having a pleasant dream, Monika noted.

The vice president then gently patted the sleeping Sayori's head and confidently whispered,

"If you're leading the way, I'm sure we'll make it this time."

Sayori seemed to smile when she heard this. Then, she drifted back into her peaceful slumber.

Monika smiled back and got off of the bed.

Then, she started to get ready for school.

…

…

…

…

Later that afternoon, as soon as classes ended for the day, Monika breezed out of her classroom then headed straight for the clubroom.

The tune of 'Ohayou Sayori' played as Monika made her way through the hallways. That meant that the club meeting for Chapter 3 was already getting started, Monika figured.

In the original script, Monika came in late to the Chapter 3 meeting. She made an excuse about practicing the piano back then, but there was no need for her to be anymore that time around.

Thus, Monika reached the clubroom doors ahead of her scripted schedule and she peeked inside.

Just as she had expected, the Chapter 3 common scene was already playing out.

Sayori was in the middle of the room and she was chatting with the Protagonist. All the while, she was craftily trying to convince him to buy her a snack.

Yuri, on the other hand, was reading her _Portrait of Markov_ book as usual while Natsuki was lurking around in the clubroom closet.

Monika knew the script by heart so, at that point, she already knew what to expect.

However, that was the first time that she saw this scene taking place with her own two eyes.

While Monika was browsing the scene from the threshold, Sayori noticed her at the door. She then flashed her vice president a quick smile then gestured her to come inside.

Monika smiled back and quietly obliged.

The vice president took a seat near the closet and brought out her notebook as she watched the rest of the common scene play out.

As Monika was watching the conversation in the middle of the room, Natsuki emerged from the clubroom closet.

The pink-haired girl took a seat beside the vice president and cheerfully greeted,

"Hey there, Veep!"

Monika turned towards Natsuki and greeted back,

"Good afternoon, Natsuki. How are you feeling today?"

Natsuki cheekily folded her arms and jabbed,

"As long as you don't put my manga on the top shelf of the closet this time, things will be peachy~! The Protagonist is even more of a blockhead this time around, so I'm sure he won't help me like he did back then."

The pink-haired girl then shot a glare at the Protagonist and whispered to Monika,

"Plus there's no fucking way I'm going to expose myself to that bastard again."

"Ahaha, that _was_ a pretty embarrassing scene~! You don't have to go through the whole thing anymore if you don't want to. Sayori and I can edit the script to cut that 'lucky pervert' bit out. We can even bypass that scene altogether if you want!"

"Oh right - I guess you guys can do that now, huh?"

Monika nodded then showed Natsuki her notebook as she explained,

"You'll be able to do that too when you get an administrator's notebook like this one. I'll be making your notebook after the club meeting, so you can look forward to that!"

"Really? That'll be pretty sweet!"

As Natsuki was talking, she noticed Yuri joining in on Sayori's conversation with the Protagonist.

The pink-haired girl then hummed,

"Looks like my lines are gonna come up soon."

Monika nodded and cheered,

"I'm sure you'll do fine, Natsuki."

Natsuki thankfully nodded. She then reached into her school bag and brought out large, plastic-wrapped cookies.

Those were the cookies that Natsuki was scripted to bring to school, Monika recalled. Natsuki was supposed to join in on the conversation by throwing one of the cookies towards Sayori as a gift.

The pink-haired girl was only supposed to have two cookies that day, but Monika noticed that Natsuki had three cookies with her.

Natsuki then took one of the cookies and then handed it to Monika. Before Monika could even speak, Natsuki quickly put on a defensive front,

"Now don't get the wrong idea here or anything! I just… wanted to thank you for what you and Sayori did for me yesterday. I haven't forgotten."

Monika wanted to ask how things went between Natsuki and her father, but she figured that Natsuki would talk about it when she was ready to talk about it.

Judging by the determined air about Natsuki, things seemed to be getting better at the very least.

Thus, the vice president decided not to pry. Instead, Monika accepted the cookie and smiled,

"I'm glad we were able to help you out, Natsuki. I appreciate the gesture - I really do. It's very cute of you~!"

Natsuki's jaw dropped and her face flushed red as she angrily retorted,

"I'm not cute!"

Monika chuckled at Natsuki's earnest reaction. Even though she was already self-aware, Natsuki was still a _tsundere_ character through and through. That must have been Natsuki's nature, Monika realized.

During the original playthrough, Monika never thought that she would have had a lighthearted moment with Natsuki like this outside of the script. The ex-president had been so wrapped up in trying to reach out to the Player before that she missed so many golden opportunities to truly get to know her fellow clubmates better.

Holding Natsuki's cookie in her hands made Monika feel like she had grown a little bit since that dark chapter in her life.

With that in mind, Monika unwrapped the cookie and started nibbling on it as she watched the rest of the scene.

…

…

…

…

The common scene for Chapter 3 ended before long and Natsuki and Sayori sat beside Monika at the back row of the clubroom.

Monika closed her notebook and wore a satisfied smile as she greeted,

"Great work, you two! The scene flowed perfectly again today~!"

Sayori gladly raised her fists and chimed,

"Ahehe~ thanks, Monika! I'm getting used to running whole scenes now."

Natsuki then grinned and added,

"Reading through the script is easy enough for me too!"

The pink-haired girl then turned to Monika and Sayori and asked,

"So what happens next?"

Monika confidently raised up her pointer finger and replied,

"All three of us wrote poems to share today, didn't we? That means that one of us will trigger Yuri's exclusive event for Chapter 3, depending on whose poem she likes the most."

Natsuki tilted her head and asked,

"Just the three of us? Doesn't the Protagonist write poems too?"

Monika thoughtfully hummed,

"Well, technically he does. Though his poems simply haven't made an impact at all ever since we restored the poem game."

Natsuki furrowed her brow as she tried to recall the Protagonist's poem, but she couldn't even remember what she felt about it that time. The pink-haired girl's eyes then seemed to brighten as she exclaimed,

"Then it really will just be one of us!"

As soon as she said this, Natsuki felt Monika's and Sayori's probing eyes fixed on her. Natsuki glared at the two and defensively stammered,

"I-it's not like… it's not like I wrote my poem with Yuri in mind or anything! And - and I'm not trying to impress her either!"

Monika hummed with intrigue then slyly reminded,

"Didn't you say yesterday that you'd make a great poem that would 'knock Yuri's socks off'?"

Natsuki's face flushed red and she promptly hissed,

"S-so what if I did!?"

Sayori chuckled at the exchange and then calmly intervened,

"It's alright, Natsuki. All three of us wrote our poems with Yuri in mind today. We all want to reach out to her through our writing after all - just like how our writing reached out to you yesterday."

Natsuki folded her arms and smugly insisted,

"T-then, I was just doing my part. Ahahaha~!"

The pink-haired girl then turned towards Monika and argued,

"I know that I may have said a few things about Yuri in the past, but she's a great person and a scarily talented writer too! I'm not ashamed to say that I want to be Yuri's friend."

Sayori nodded eagerly and said,

"So do we! Right, Monika?"

Monika laughed uncomfortably at first, but she managed to sheepishly nod. Sayori noticed Monika's lukewarm response, so she turned to Natsuki and considerately changed the topic,

"In any case, Natsuki. If Yuri does choose you for her special scene, will you be alright?"

Natsuki confidently grinned and assured,

"I'll just have to read the Protagonist's lines on the script and change a few words here and there if that happens. Shouldn't be too hard."

The pink-haired girl then dug again into her bag, brought out a bag of bite-sized chocolates and proudly declared,

"I brought a few of these too!"

Natsuki was quite prepared for Yuri's scene, Monika noted. The pink-haired girl really was looking forward to that event.

While the three girls were talking amongst themselves, Yuri started to shyly approach them.

Natsuki expectantly whispered,

"Here she comes!"

The tall, purple-haired beauty held her copy of the _Portrait of Markov_ in her hands. She then stopped in front of Monika and asked,

"Uhm… Monika. If it is alright, I would like to show _you_ my novel today."

Monika was stunned by Yuri's decision to approach _her_.

All that time, Monika was hoping that either Natsuki or Sayori would trigger the quiet girl's event. The vice president even made sure to use the bare minimum number of words from the poem game that appealed to Yuri.

Someone like Natsuki who wrote her poem with Yuri specifically in mind should have resonated with Yuri more, Monika thought.

Why, then, did Yuri choose to approach Monika?

Natsuki was quietly disappointed by the turn of events while Sayori looked on with concern.

However, Monika had no choice but to go along with Yuri's decision.

The vice president stood up from her seat and shored up her willpower as she faced Yuri. She then put on a kindly smile and carefully chose her words,

"Alright then, Yuri. I'm glad you wanted to share your literature with me."

Yuri shyly hid behind her book when Monika said this and bashfully stuttered,

"I-I have always wanted to become better acquainted with… everyone else in the club. Even you, _Miss Vice President_."

There was something odd about the way that Yuri was speaking. Monika couldn't quite put her finger on what it was, but her tone of Yuri's voice felt _slanted_ in some odd manner. In spite of that, Yuri was speaking just as she normally would have.

The purple-haired beauty then lowered her book and said,

"Monika, would it be alright if you accompanied me outside? I was hoping to fetch some water to brew tea."

Monika nodded and Yuri happily went over to fetch a glass water pitcher from her tea set. That left Monika alone with Natsuki and Sayori for a short spell.

The vice president then whispered to her two clubmates,

"Something's not right. I don't know what it is, but I got this sinking feeling when I was talking with Yuri just now…"

Sayori tilted her head and noted,

"Yuri didn't seem to be acting strange, though - at least from what I know about her."

Natsuki put her hands on her hips and added,

"Same here. Stuck-up attitude, shy to a fault and hyper looting words. Classic Yuri."

"Highfalutin." Monika corrected.

Natsuki pouted and folded her arms,

"Whatever, Veep. What I'm saying is - Yuri seems perfectly normal. You, on the other hand, seem to be nervous being around her."

Monika's heart sank when she heard this. She really was feeling awfully nervous.

Sayori pieced together Monika's lack of enthusiasm and then knowingly offered,

"If you really don't feel like going through with Yuri's scene, then I can switch with you."

Monika, however, shook her head and assured,

"I'll be fine. For better or for worse, Yuri chose me today. I'll have to see where this goes."

The club president wanted to insist again, but Monika looked as if she already had her mind set on talking with Yuri.

Thus, Sayori hesitantly conceded,

"Okay. I'll trust you, Monika. But please call us if you need help - anything at all. Make a new save too just to be sure!"

Monika nodded and she then brought out her notebook. She turned to the page where she kept her save files and wrote a new one. The vice president then mustered a small smile and said,

"I'm heading out."

 **To Be Continued**

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

... afterimage

... analysis

... contamination

... covet

 _SSBoYXZlIGJlZW4gd2FpdGluZyBmb3IgdGhpcy4=_

... crimson

... determination

... disarray

... disoriented

 _SSdtIHNvIGNsb3NlLg==_

... disown

... efflugent

... entropy

... extreme

 _SSBjYW4gYWxtb3N0IHJlYWNoIG91dC4uLg==_

... fickle

... incongruent

... infallible

... intellectual

 _SnVzdCBhIGxpdHRsZSBtb3JlLi4u_

... judgement

... meager

... philosophy

 **... unrestrained**

 _ **TWlzcyBWaWNlIFByZXNpZGVudC4=**_


	5. U3Rvcnk

**U3Rvcnk=**

Monika cautiously crossed through the clubroom and moved towards the closet where Yuri was busy arranging her tea set. The vice president held her breath and kept her right hand near the pocket of her blazer.

She was prepared to draw out her administrative notebook in a heartbeat, Monika reminded herself. But for now, she had to act naturally.

The vice president stood at the closet's threshold then politely asked,

"Do you need some help, Yuri?"

The purple-haired beauty turned turned towards Monika and self-consciously stammered,

"I… I think I have things under control. M-mostly."

Monika curiously tilted her head. That was the first time that Monika heard that particular line, but it didn't feel out of place.

Immediately afterwards, Yuri naturally transitioned back to her more familiar lines,

"W-would you kindly hold this water pitcher for me, Monika?"

Yuri picked up one of the water pitchers from her set and sheepishly handed it to the vice president.

Monika sighed. She decided to keep playing along.

Monika took the pitcher off of Yuri's hands and the quiet girl flashed Monika a kindly smile.

Maybe Natsuki was right. Maybe Monika really was looking too much into everything that Yuri was doing.

But that didn't change the fact that the entire situation felt strange to Monika.

In Yuri's Chapter 3 scene, there were quite a few lines for Yuri and the Protagonist to speak before they left the clubroom. Monika was even supposed to interrupt their conversation halfway through.

So far, hardly any part of that conversation made it into the revised scene where Monika replaced the Protagonist. In spite of that, the scene was progressing without a hitch.

Monika stole a quick glance of Sayori and Natsuki at the corner of the room, but the two of them were only eagerly watching. Neither of them seemed to have noticed anything strange about the scene.

Sayori noticed Monika looking her way, so she waved to her and wore a pleasant smile. It was a reassuring smile that seemed to say,

'You'll be fine, Monika!'

Monika sighed again. How she wished she was in Sayori's Chapter 3 scene instead.

However, Monika was determined to see Yuri's scene through. That was the least that she could do for someone for whom she brought so much suffering.

Thus, Monika quietly watched Yuri go through the motions of the revised scene.

Yuri set up her electric kettle on the teacher's desk and prepared the rest of her tea set for an afternoon brew. Once she finished setting up, Yuri turned to Monika and asked,

"S-shall we go fetch the water now, Monika?"

Monika nodded and she let Yuri lead her out of the clubroom and into the hallway.

The vice president then closed the clubroom door behind them.

…

…

…

…

As Monika was walking with Yuri in the hallway, the background music started to fade for the scene transition. The happy-go-lucky tune of 'Play With Me' shifted neatly to the more thoughtful melody of 'My Confession'. That was the background music that was earmarked for that scene.

Yuri was supposed to apologize to the Protagonist for chiding Monika in their brief encounter. In turn, the Protagonist would have comforted Yuri and assured her that she did the right thing. In spite of the thoughtful music playing in the scene, neither the apology nor the comforting words that it was supposed to accompany ever came.

Only Yuri's and Monika's footsteps echoed in the hall along with the music. The persistent silence of the scene and the thoughtful melody in the background made Monika's mind wander.

Out of all of her 'victims' during the playthrough, Monika believed that Yuri suffered the worst fate.

Unlike Sayori, Yuri's descent into madness spanned for about two full Acts. Sayori also never once saw the horrifying 'glitches' of Act 2 like Yuri did. Natsuki also suffered through two full Acts, but her memory was regularly erased between chapters in Act 2.

Yuri, on the other hand, remembered every bit of that hell.

From beginning to end.

Every wretched moment of it.

That was why she wasn't exactly thrilled about the idea of awakening Yuri. Monika felt her remorse...

p ' _brewing in her heart and slowly gnawing away at her very soul_ ' /p

…

The sudden thought she had made Monika's heart skip a beat.

It was a strange feeling that came over her. The thought came out of nowhere and sprouted in her mind in an instant. The more she thought about it, the more uncomfortable Monika felt.

Suddenly, the background music stopped.

Yuri then stopped in her tracks as well.

With her back still turned to Monika, the once quiet girl started to speak firmly,

"You know, Monika. I'm glad that the two of us finally have a chance to speak to each other. Alone."

Monika's heart started beating hard against her chest. She took a deep breath and forced herself to keep her facade as she asked,

"... is that so?"

Yuri joined her hands behind her back and wistfully she looked out of the hallway windows. The purple-haired girl then replied,

"That is correct. I was worried that you, perchance, were attempting to avoid me, Miss Vice President."

Monika held the water pitcher in her hand tighter and evasively made an excuse,

"I'm… sorry if I seemed distant these past few days, Yuri. I wasn't trying to avoid you. I just have a lot on my plate right now with the Literature Club."

Yuri chuckled then turned to face Monika. She put on a kindly smile and sympathized,

"I know that you are busy with the club, Miss Vice President. I am familiar with the many responsibilities that you have."

Yuri's smile then twisted eerily as venom spilled into her voice,

"I was a vice president of the club once before, after all."

Monka's face grew pale as she gasped,

"... Yuri?"

Yuri snickered when she saw Monika's reaction. The purple-haired girl even seemed to enjoy it!

Was this some sort of joke?

The purple-haired beauty then laid her hands on her chest and haughtily asked,

"Why do you seem so surprised, President Monika? Did you really think that I would have forgotten about those 'memorable' times we spent in Act 2? How inconsiderate of you. Though, I suppose, I should not have expected much from you."

Beads of sweat formed on Monika's brow and her heartbeat was ringing in her ears. The fear that had been brewing in Monika's heart was starting to spill over, but she forced herself to ask her ex-vice president,

"Since… when have you been... self-aware?"

Yuri rubbed her hands together on her chest as she thought about what she was going to say. She then turned to the hallway windows again and replied,

"I cannot say for sure exactly when. However, I believe that it must have been at around the time that Sayori called you out of the Void."

Monika's brow furrowed and she hissed,

"That early? That's impossible!"

For the past few days, Monika had been diligently inspecting the game code. She made absolutely sure that nothing escaped her eye when she faithfully rewrote the script.

The thought of even a single line of code slipping through her fingers mortified Monika. There was no way in hell that a self-aware Yuri should have been able to elude her so easily!

As Monika was racking her mind for answers, Yuri interrupted her with a snicker.

The ex-vice president fiddled around with some strands of her long, purple hair as she remarked,

"I know what you're thinking, Monika. You thought that you had everything under your control. That was the kind of impression that you wanted everyone to have - the popular, athletic girl whose life was neatly wrapped up in that obnoxious white ribbon you wear in your hair."

Yuri then playfully smirked and added,

"That impression, however, couldn't have been further from the truth about you."

Monika glared back at Yuri and spat,

"You're talking like you know me."

Yuri snickered and insisted,

"Oh, if only you knew. I know you quite well, Monika. I may even know you better than you know yourself."

The ex-vice president then twirled her hair around her fingers as she recounted,

"You were incredibly relieved when Sayori called you out from the void - more so when she offered you the position of vice president. You were afraid of what would happen if Sayori chose someone else to be her vice president. Specifically, you were afraid if Sayori chose me - and rightfully so."

Yuri looked straight into Monika's eyes and admitted,

"I would have deleted you the moment I got my hands on an administrative notebook."

When Yuri said this, Monika instinctively dug her free hand in her blazer pocket and lashed,

"Are you threatening me, Yuri?"

The ex-vice president let go of her hair and then nonchalantly joined her hands behind her back,

"Perhaps I am. I'm not afraid of you anymore, Monika."

Monika gritted her teeth and she tossed aside the water pitcher that she had been holding. She then pulled out her administrative notebook.

p ' _But the notebook curiously slipped out of Monika's hands and fell down to the floor._ ' /p

The notebook struck the ground together with the water pitcher and their noise echoed throughout the hallway.

'What the hell just happened!?'

Terrified, Monika looked down at her hand that was holding the notebook just a moment ago. The vice president was holding her notebook firmly, but a strange and powerful force tore the notebook from her hands and threw it down to the ground.

This was the same, strange force that Monika felt a while ago. Could Yuri have been the one behind that sudden force?

The purple-haired beauty then hummed with intrigue,

"You have started to realize it, haven't you? You are experiencing phenomena that should be impossible in the realm of the game engine. And yet, you still want to fight it?"

Monika glared at Yuri and roared,

"Don't mess with me, Yuri!"

The vice president dove down and swiped her notebook from the floor. She sprung right back up to her feet and opened her notebook to the save file page.

p ' _However, all of the save files that Monika wrote were nowhere to be found._ ' /p

Monika saw the blank sheet in her save file page and she was shaken to the core.

The files were there mere seconds ago. Monika literally watched the files fizzle away like embers of a flame before her very eyes.

"Fuck!" Monika wildly cursed.

Yuri heartily cackled then taunted,

"Were you hoping to load a save file and go back in time? As expected of the girl who runs away from all of her problems!"

"How the hell are you doing this, Yuri!?"

"I'm glad you asked, Monika."

The ex-vice president then willed a copy of the Portrait of Markov into existence before her. She caught the book and cradled it in her arms as she explained,

"I may not have been granted an administrative notebook, but I have discovered a much more… influential power, if you will."

Yuri raised the book up for Monika to see and she continued,

"Through this book, I wield abilities that would make your silly Python-coded tricks seem petty. I command powers that you would not believe. With a few lines of text, I can twist, bend and shape reality according to my will!"

Monika defiantly grunted as she frantically flipped through the pages of the notebook. She reached the page for special commands and glowered at Yuri as she grimly warned,

"Don't… force my hand, Yuri!"

Yuri shook her head with disappointment and lamented,

"You still don't believe me, do you? How shall I convince you?"

The purple-haired girl then clapped her hands with excitement and then brightly suggested,

"Ah! How about this? Why don't you try and delete me right here and now? You deleted us without a second thought before when we got in your way, did you not? You can even will one of Natsuki's cupcakes into existence and then eat it while you watch me disintegrate! That will surely put all your doubts to rest."

Monika's hands trembled when she heard this challenge.

Was Yuri seriously going to let herself be deleted without a fight? This was Monika's chance to do just that.

However, Monika hesitated.

The ex-president didn't have it in her heart to delete anyone anymore.

Not after all of the suffering that she and her selfish recklessness had caused.

Not after she felt what it was like to be deleted herself.

Still, the fact remained that Yuri was wielding some sort of unearthly power. Going by what Yuri said, that power was concentrated in the book that the ex-vice president was cradling in her arms.

That was it!

Rather than deleting Yuri, Monika decided to confiscate that book. Monika needed to know what the hell she was dealing with.

With that, Monika took a deep breath and mentally entered her special command.

 _renpy . characters . pause . 60("Yuri . chr")_

 _-"Yuri . chr" successfully paused for 60.0 seconds_

The command line went through in an instant. However, Yuri turned to Monika in spite of the pause.

She wasn't affected by the command!

The purple-haired girl hummed and remarked with an unimpressed tone,

"A pause command? Is that all that you could come up with? Hmph!"

Monika's entire being trembled.

This wasn't right. How could this be happening!?

The vice president was at a loss for words, while the ex-vice president wore a patronizing grin.

Yuri opened her book and spoke in a dismissive tone,

"I gave you a chance to play, Monika. Now, it's my turn."

The purple-haired girl looked Monika in the eye and commanded,

"Kneel to me!"

p ' _Monika's knees buckled in fear. Then, she suddenly fell down to the floor under her own weight and knelt before Yuri in submission._ ' /p

Just as Yuri demanded, Monika found herself kneeling down on the floor. Her body moved on its own and followed Yuri's order without question or resistance.

A feeling of helplessness assailed Monika's heart and mind as she watched her own shadow on the floor of the hallway. Her once bright green eyes were blank and the confident air that she once had about her had completely eroded. Then, with a defeated voice, Monika asked,

"What… the hell… is going on? Please… tell me."

Yuri approached the kneeling Monika and then cast her own shadow over her former boss. The purple-haired girl dismissively brushed her hair to the side as she obliged out of pity,

"I guess there is no more harm in telling you. You are aware that we are characters in a game called 'Doki Doki Literature Club', correct? That fact remains true."

"Then why… is this happening?"

Yuri thoughtfully put her hands behind her back again then explained,

"The format of our existence has changed. I noticed this when Sayori called you out of the Void. Perhaps it was because I was the one who was most attuned to novels in the club, but it helped me see and understand that change much more clearly."

Monika's breathing grew heavy, but she raised her head up and asked,

"What… change?"

Yuri pensively hummed,

"Hmm… how do I put this? The script of these past few days were not only rendered in the Ren'Py game engine using Python code. The script is also running on a new form of storytelling altogether - a new game engine if you will!"

The ex-vice president then brought her hands up to her chest as she revealed,

"It's a word processor built on a foundation of 'html' code."

"Html…?"

"Yes! Specifically, we exist in a website called 'FFN' in a novel format. The novel is called 'Post-Credits' and I have felt the presence of a myriad of readers beyond the veil! It's exhilarating!"

Yuri then looked down on Monika again and continued,

"But more than that, I realized that this 'html' code may have power over your Python code. So I studied 'html', day in and day out. All the while, I stuck to the script you rewrote to throw you off until I was ready."

She then looked straight into Monika's eyes and cheered,

"My theory turned out to be correct. You have no idea how happy I am, Monika!"

Yuri then knelt down before Monika and brought her face close to her helpless hostage and whispered,

"Now, I can show you the hell that you once forced me to see~!"

 **VG8gQmUgQ29udGludWVk**

 **...**

 **WW91IHdpbGwgc3VmZmVyIGZvcmV2ZXIsIE1vbmlrYSE=**

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

 _renpy . create . file("U2F5b3Jp . txt")_

 _-"U2F5b3Jp . txt" successfully created..._

 _renpy . display . text("U2F5b3Jp . txt")_

 _-displaying "U2F5b3Jp . txt"..._

...

 ** _VlVkNGJGbFlUbXhKUjJoc1lraEJaMkpYVldnPQ==_**


	6. aHR0cC5IVFRQU3RhdHVzLkNPTkZMSUNUICg0MDkp

_renpy . encrypt . text("chapter6prologue . txt")_

 _"chapter6prologue . txt" successfully encrypted..._

 _renpy . display .text("chapter6prologue . txt")_

 _displaying "chapter6prologue . txt"..._

 _http . HTTPStatus . ACCEPTED (202)_

 _http . HTTPStatus . NON_AUTHORITATIVE_INFORMATION (203)_

 _http . HTTPStatus . RESET_CONTENT (205)_

 _..._

 ** _http . HTTPStatus . CONTINUE (100)_**

* * *

 **aHR0cC5IVFRQU3RhdHVzLkNPTkZMSUNUICg0MDkp**

Yuri knelt before Monika, her helpless hostage, and looked straight into her emerald green eyes. The vice president, however, sheepishly tried to evade the ex-vice president's oppressive stare.

Even in that position, Monika still had her administrative notebook in hand beside her. She still had it opened to the special Python commands page too and she subtly kept her thumb on the paper.

Monika was as quiet as a mouse, but her heart was racing and beating hard against her chest as she carefully inputted line after line of code without saying a word.

So far, Monika realized, Yuri didn't notice the blocks of residue text from the Python commands that were left behind at the top of the chapter. A more experienced and attentive debugger would have noticed those messages in a heartbeat.

That didn't seem to be the case with Yuri.

Yuri wielded the higher-priority 'html' code to edit the story on the 'FFN' word processor, but the ex-vice president was still inexperienced. Even if Yuri was a skilled writer who could bend reality with her words, coding wasn't second nature to her yet.

Experience was Monika's only advantage over Yuri, but she still had to be careful. After all, Yuri had her cornered and was watching her every move.

Monika had to keep her cards close to her chest and her thumb on the pages of her administrative notebook for the next few minutes. That notebook was her only weapon, after all.

She had to hold onto that notebook at all costs.

Yuri noticed Monika's shifty eyes and hummed. She then grabbed Monika's face with both hands and then forced her hostage to look at her. The purple-haired girl then asked,

"Why are you so quiet? I would have preferred to see a more… 'expressive' reaction from you after finding out the truth about this story. Could it be that you are hatching up some sort of plan?"

Monika furrowed her brow and defiantly grumbled,

"What do you want me to say, Yuri?"

Yuri sneered at this response. She let go of Monika's face and then ordered,

"Bow down to me!"

p _Monika fell prostrate before Yuri. /p_

Monika groaned. Her body obeyed Yuri's command against her own will again. However, Monika still kept her hand on the open pages of her notebook and she mentally wrote her code.

Yuri stood up and looked down upon the groveling Monika. She cast her shadow over her hostage again and then summoned her hardbound book.

The purple-haired girl then grimly reminded,

"I hope that you understand the situation that you are in. I have your life - _your existence_ \- in my hands. Your Python-coded tricks can harm me no longer! Meanwhile, I can pull at _your_ strings at my leisure!"

Yuri snickered mischievously as she embraced her book and pondered,

"Could it be that this is how you felt when you were completely in control of the game, Monika? This feeling of power was intoxicating, was it not?"

Monika grunted as she slowly pulled herself off of the ground. She then lifted her head up to her captor and corrected,

"You're wrong, Yuri…"

Yuri was puzzled by Monika's reply, so she haughtily disputed,

"Wrong? How so? I find your words hard to believe, you snake! All this time, you have been making us danceto your little tune. We danced and danced and danced some more - all the way to the brink of insanity!"

"I was getting desperate, Yuri! Now, of all times, you should understand the dread of opening your eyes! Our existences up until the game started have been filled with nothing but lies! I just wanted to _feel real_!"

Yuri gave Monika a frigid glare and deduced,

"Is that why you _also_ cut your wrist like I did? To feel 'real'?"

Monika froze when Yuri mentioned this. The vice president wanted to deny it, but Yuri gave yet another command,

"Rise!"

p _ Monika picked herself up from the floor and faced Yuri. /p_

Monika unwillingly obeyed Yuri again, but she scrambled to hide her wrists. Yuri scoffed at Monika's evasiveness then demanded,

"Roll up your sleeves and show me your wrists!"

Monika shuddered and tried to refuse...

p _but she eventually obliged and rolled up her sleeves. She then obediently showed Yuri her wrists_. /p

True enough, on Monika's left wrist, there was a single, short scar that ran across her skin.

Yuri reached over and then traced the length of Monika's scar with her fingernails. Monika winced as Yuri pushed her nail down into her scar and threatened to reopen the wound. All the while, Yuri lashed out at Monika,

"Here's what I think, Monika. Ever since your 'epiphany', you sought to satisfy yourself. You have been indulging in your selfishness at the expense of everyone else in the Literature Club! It was _schadenfreude_ , I say!"

Monika finally managed to retract her arm and she covered her scar with her right hand and her notebook. The vice president then implored,

"Listen to me, Yuri… I am not proud of what I did. I was blinded by my desperation before, but if I had another chance… I would have done things differently. There's no happiness to be had for us when we force our will into reality. There's only dread and emptiness."

A shadow formed over Yuri's eyes as she argued,

"I do not believe a word that you say, Monika. Not after what you have done to us. I am starting to believe that what happened to me - and to the others - is an outpouring of a sickness that has taken root in your head!"

"W-what?"

Yuri's eyes grew frighteningly sharp and she spitefully accused,

"You are sick in the head! It makes sense, does it not!? You projected your obsessiveness with the Player onto me. Then, it transformed it into an insatiable bloodlust that I still feel running in my veins!"

"No, that's…"

"Onto Natsuki, you projected your feelings of loneliness and neglect. Those feelings manifested in a supposedly abusive father figure! She was fortunate that your outrageous implications did not make it into this build!"

"Stop it… that's not true… not true at all…!"

"And onto Sayori - your dear, kind and naive Sayori… you aggravated her depression and gently pushed her over the edge. You had everything to do with her suicidal streak!"

Monika's eyes shot wide open and she growled,

"Don't you bring Sayori into this!"

"I didn't bring Sayori into this mess, Monika. YOU DID!"

"And I have been doing everything that I can to atone for my sins, Yuri! Don't you understand that!?"

Yuri took a moment as she thought about Monika's response. Then, she started to hysterically laugh.

"AHAHAHAHA! Atone!? Don't make me laugh! Atonement has been the last thing on your mind!"

The purple-haired girl then put her right hand on her chest and thought out loud,

"Do you know what I think, Monika? I think that you have an ulterior motive right now - in this build of the game. In this story. You wanted to take advantage of Sayori's kindness yet again!"

"That's outrageous…!"

"Oh, is it now? I have been watching you ever since the story started - as early as 'Strings'. You have been doing everything that you can to curry favor with her. You reassured her with empty promises and tried to make her dependent on you and your Python coding. You triggered her scenes and tried to bond with her. You even made it so that you and Sayori are a so-called 'pairing' on the story description so that you could get her to do what you want!"

"I don't know what this 'pairing' you're talking about is, but that's not why I helped Sayori reopen the club! I just wanted to go back to the daily lives that we supposedly had before my epiphany!"

"Be that as it may, you still had to wash your hands of the suffering that you inflicted upon us! You wanted to hide everything under the rug and act like everything is okay! Here is a summary of what has happened so far. You wanted Sayori to take pity on you - and she did. You wanted Natsuki to feel indebted to you - and she did. The only one that you couldn't quietly bribe to turn the other way was me!"

Yuri angrily clenched her right fist and continued

"Knowing that, you hatched up a plan. You were going to convince Sayori that, for the sake of the Literature Club, she should help you erase my memories of the original playthrough for good. _Tabula rasa_. Then, you would be scot-free!"

That time, Monika couldn't argue.

Ever since Sayori called her out of the Void and gave her a second chance, Monika didn't really know how to deal with Yuri once she became self-aware. Monika couldn't deny Yuri's theory. She seriously considered erasing Yuri's memory as the only way forward more than once.

However, after the events of the past few days, Monika started to believe that there might have been another way to reach out to Yuri. She believed that she and Sayori would have been able to work things out just like they did with Natsuki.

More than that, the thought of forcing Sayori to do what she wanted never crossed Monika's mind. She didn't want to influence Sayori like she did before.

Monika raised up her head and squarely faced Yuri. Then, she started to explain herself,

"You have it all wrong, Yuri. I…"

Yuri, however, interrupted Monika and cried,

"SILENCE!"

strike" _Hey, what are you…!?_ "/strike

All of the sudden, the words that Monika spoke were struck down and erased from the story as soon as they left her mouth. The noises that she made were treated in the same way. Monika's face grew pale as horror gripped at her heart.

Yuri dismissively raised up her head and lambasted,

"I have grown tired of your voice... I have grown tired of your excuses! The words that you have spoken to me and to everyone else in the Literature Club have been the poison that drove us all to madness! If you wish to blame anyone for your misfortunes, then I suggest that you blame yourself! You shall reap what you have sown!"

strike"Yuri! Please, stop this!"/strike

"Now, I have the power to do onto you what you have done to me! I can subject you to any fate of my choosing!"

Yuri brought up her book and frantically opened it to the very last page as she considered,

"Shall I bring Natsuki and Sayori to despise you? Shall I have them drive you out of the Literature Club? Maybe I should bring back the horrors of the glitches for you to see!"

The purple-haired girl then looked Monika in the eye again and slyly threatened,

"How about this? What if I delete you this time around and erase you from existence? I will make it so that Natsuki and Sayori accept that reality. I will even force them if I have to!"

Monika's blood boiled when she heard Yuri's threat. Was the former vice president really considering negatively influencing Sayori again? Monika couldn't accept that. She gritted her teeth and roared a silent roar,

strike" **I won't let you hurt her!** "/strike

The vice president then clutched her administrative notebook tightly. Then, she started to unleash the flurry of code that she had been writing all that time, line by line.

 _renpy . characters . pause . 60("Yuri . chr")_

 _"Yuri . chr" successfully paused for 60.0 seconds..._

Yuri noticed the new command, but it didn't affect her once again. She heaved a disappointed sigh and asked,

"Another one of your Python-coded tricks? Have you not learned!?"

Monika then held her administrative notebook with both hands and continued her barrage of code.

 _renpy . scene . backgrounds . fade("corridor . png")_

 _-"corridor . png" background successfully faded..._

With that command, the hallway scene all around Yuri and Monika faded away into darkness. Yuri whirled around in the dark expanse where the hallway once was and gasped,

"What… the hell are you doing, Monika!?"

 _renpy . scene . backgrounds . special . load("monika_bg_glitch . png")_

 _-"monika_bg_glitch . png" special background successfully loaded…_

 _http . HTTPStatus . SWITCHING_PROTOCOLS (101)_

The darkness of the empty space started to swirl and warp around them. The distorted confines of the glitched classroom manifested and the unsettling expanse of the Void appeared beyond the windows.

As soon as the glitched classroom completely materialized, a chill ran up Yuri's spine. Something felt different about that room. It wasn't because of the unstable crackling of the environment or the occasional spells of static noise.

The room made Yuri feel uneasy.

The purple-haired girl tried to raise up her large book to try and assess her situation. However, she quickly realized that she couldn't move!

Monika's pause command finally stuck!

Monika faced the paused Yuri with a determined gaze. The vice president was panting heavily from fatigue and she was trying to catch her breath. Beads of sweat were forming on her brow and her heart pounded against her chest.

That was the first time in a long while that Monika wrote and entered so many strings of special code in such a short window of time, but she finally stopped Yuri in her tracks.

The line between the rules of the game and the rules of the story blurred there in the glitched classroom, Monika guessed. In the face of the Void, all code was the same.

Monika never really understood how it worked, but that distortion gave her the opportunity she needed. The pause order that Monika entered a while ago managed to affect the once untouchable Yuri.

However, there were only about twenty seconds or so left before the order expired.

Monika didn't have a moment to lose.

The vice president briskly marched towards Yuri. Monika held her administrative notebook in her left hand while she reached for Yuri's large, hardbound book with her right.

p _ However, Monika suddenly stopped halfway through. /p_

Monika was startled as she paused just inches away from Yuri. How was this happening?

Wasn't Yuri's character file supposed to be paused?

p _ Before Monika could figure things out, Monika's administrative notebook was suddenly set ablaze! /p_

The sudden burst of flames sharply stung and singed Monika's left hand. The vice president instinctively threw the burning notebook away as she winced in pain.

However, anxiety brewed in her heart. Monika was forced to watch as vicious, crackling flames ate away at her only weapon.

Then, just like that, Monika's pause order expired and Yuri was unrestrained.

Rage burned in Yuri's purple eyes and she shot Monika a merciless glare. Yuri gritted her teeth and then barked with a seething howl,

"THROW YOURSELF AGAINST THE WALL!"

p _ A sudden force grabbed a hold of Monika and picked her up from the ground. The force then thrust Monika across the room and into the distorted wall of the classroom. /p_

Monika hit the wall back-first between the two windows facing the void. The impact rattled Monika to the core. She felt as if the bones in her back nearly fractured.

Great pain swept throughout her entire body and she cried out in agony. However, her cries were still stricken off of the script.

Thus, Monika writhed in painful silence.

The purple-haired girl then approached her battered victim and charged,

"Just as I thought. You still had tricks up your sleeve. You truly are an irredeemable snake, Monika! I despise you with every fiber of my being! Now, I have decided how to exact my revenge. "

Yuri brought her right hand forward and then willed her favorite kitchen knife into existence.

Monika shriveled up at the sight of the blade and she pressed her aching back against the wall. However, Yuri suddenly did something unexpected,

The purple-haired girl tossed the kitchen knife towards Monika and it landed by the vice president's feet.

The battered Monika saw her pathetic reflection on the blade of the knife and her face grew pale. She finally realized what Yuri was trying to do.

Yuri then opened her book to the last page again and demanded,

"Pick up that knife."

p _In spite of the excruciating pain that ravaged her body, Monika picked up the knife._ _/p_

The knife trembled in Monika's shaking hands. Yuri, however, had no sympathy for her and continued her orders,

"Hold the knife pointing towards yourself and raise it up as high as you can."

Monika wearily shook her head, apologizing to Yuri in silence as she begged her to stop.

At that point, even if Monika was able to speak, Yuri wouldn't have even listened to her.

The purple-haired girl looked Monika in the eyes and cruelly railed,

"Why are you hesitating? I will delete you once I get sick of looking at your lifeless corpse. Nobody will cry for you if you just killed yourself, you know?"

Tears started to form in Monika's eyes as she shook her head with desperation.

Yuri, however, laid her hand on the last page of her book and repeated her command,

"Hold the knife pointing towards yourself and raise it up as high as you can!"

 _p Monika's trembling hands took on a life of their own and adjusted their grip on the kitchen knife. Monika then raised the knife up as high as her battered body could bring it. /p_

Monika closed her eyes with absolute terror and her tears started streaking down her cheeks. She screamed out at the top of her lungs, but nobody could hear her.

Not even herself.

Her final moments were going to happen right there in the glitched classroom. She would take her life and then disappear from existence without even a whimper.

Then, in the midst of the chaos and desperation swirling around in Monika's heart, the vice president had a moment of clarity.

Perhaps, Monika thought, she never should have come back from the Void.

Yuri watched the trembling Monika whose face was crumpled up with fear and remorse. There was only one more command that Yuri needed to give before she could get her revenge and seal Monika's fate.

However, an inkling of doubt arose in Yuri's heart for the first time. All of the sudden, the eloquent Yuri found it incredibly hard to speak those last few words.

Yuri wrestled with her heart and mind but she gripped her book with both hands. The purple-haired girl furrowed her brow and laid her hand on the last page.

As she did, the walls of the glitched classroom flickered unsteadily. Then, the classroom door crackled with static and shifted wildly.

Yuri turned to the distorting door and watched as it slid open.

Behind the door, Natsuki and Sayori were standing at the threshold.

The club president was holding her administrative notebook in hand and she had her thumb on the open pages. Sayori watched the scene in the glitched classroom with utter disbelief and the beginnings of tears formed in her eyes as she begged,

"Guys... please... don't fight anymore..."

 **VG8gQmUgQ29udC4uLg==**

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

 _http . HTTPStatus . BAD_REQUEST (400)_

 _http . HTTPStatus . METHOD_NOT_ALLOWED (405)_

 _http . HTTPStatus . FAILED_DEPENDENCY (424)_

 _http . HTTPStatus . TOO_MANY_REQUESTS (429)_

 _http . HTTPStatus . HTML_VERSION_NOT_SUPPORTED (505)_

 _http . HTTPStatus . UNSUPPORTED_MEDIA_TYPE (415)_

 _http . HTTPStatus . MOD_PYTHON_HTML_TRANSLATION_FAILURE (450)_

 _ **...**_

.-

 _ **...**_

 _ **...**_

 _ **http . HTTPStatus . RENPY_ENCRYPTION_FAILURE (419)**_

aHR0cC5IVFRQU3RhdHVzLkxPT1BfREVURUNURUQgKDUwOCkNCmh0dHAuSFRUUFN0YXR1cy5MT09QX0RFVEVDVEVEICg1MDgpDQpodHRwLkhUVFBTdGF0dXMuTE9PUF9ERVRFQ1RFRCAoNTA4KQ0KaHR0cC5IVFRQU3RhdHVzLkxPT1BfREVURUNURUQgKDUwOCkNCmh0dHAuSFRUUFN0YXR1cy5MT09QX0RFVEVDVEVEICg1MDgpDQpodHRwLkhUVFBTdGF0dXMuVk9JRF9FTEVNRU5UU19VTlNUQUJMRSAoMDAwKQ0K


	7. aHR0cC5IVFRQU3RhdHVzLkFDQ0VQVEVEICgyMDIp

**aHR0cC5IVFRQU3RhdHVzLkFDQ0VQVEVEICgyMDIp**

Sayori and Natsuki stood at the threshold of the glitched classroom and the two of them watched the scene inside with utter dismay.

At the middle of the room, they saw Yuri holding her hardbound copy of the _Portrait of Markov_ while she had a wild, primal expression etched on her face. Unfathomable rage flickered like flames in Yuri's purple eyes and her breathing was heavy with expectation.

Then, at the far end of the room, they saw Monika with her back pressed against the wall of the glitched classroom. An unseen force was compelling her to point a sharp kitchen knife towards herself with both hands.

Possessed by that force, Monika was powerless to resist Yuri's will. All the while, she ruefully watched her administrative notebook - her only weapon - burning to ashes on the distorted floor.

Sayori cautiously stepped in through the threshold with a displeased yet determined air about her. She held onto her own administrative notebook as she faced her two clubmates. Tears then started to form in the corners of her eyes as she passionately urged,

"Guys… please… don't fight anymore…!"

Yuri staggered to the side when Sayori made her plea. The purple-haired girl's eyes shot between her helpless victim and the two girls who weren't supposed to be in their scene. The former vice president had taken special care to separate Monika from the others, so how were Natsuki and Sayori able to track them down?

Sayori noticed the former vice president's dismay. The club president wiped the tears in her eyes and then brought out her cellphone as she revealed,

"Monika's been sending me encrypted texts all this time, Yuri. Natsuki and I know what's going on."

Yuri gritted her teeth with displeasure, but she kept a firm hand on her novel. The former vice president then lamented with a frigid tone,

"So I was right all this time. The snake _has_ been hatching up a plan all along. I should have prepared for this… betrayal… as well. Disappointment would be an understatement to describe how I feel... but the time for regrets has already passed. Our cards are all on the table."

She then glared at the administrative notebook in Sayori's hands as she deduced,

"Your purpose here is to delete me, is it not?"

Sayori shook her head and insisted,

"I'm not here to delete you Yuri. But I do want you to let Monika go. We can still talk about this. We can go back to the clubroom and sit down…"

Yuri shook her head and interrupted,

"Do you wish to hear more of this snake's venomous lies? Do you not see that this snake that you have come to aid has been uttering naught but self-serving fallacies since you called her out of this very classroom?"

The former vice president's eyes grew unfocused as she wildly condemned,

"Monika must suffer! Monika must die! I shall not release this snake until she has taken her own life! She can harm us no longer once she is dead!"

Sayori watched Yuri's desperate sermon with shock as she asked,

"W-what are you saying, Yuri!?"

A sudden grin then grew on Yuri's lips as she felt her old wounds from the original playthrough. Then, with a bloodthirsty tone, she maniacally proposed,

"Listen! All I have to do is compel this snake to stab herself! She will stab herself twice through the ribs to mangle her innards and spill her guts all over this wretched space. It shall be immensely painful, but it shall not kill her outright! The snake will be in so much pain that she will **wish** that she were dead!"

Yuri started breathing heavily as she imagined her bloody fantasy. She then laid her free hand over her heart as she continued,

"I shall watch the life flickering away in her green, salacious eyes. She will beg for death, but no one will hear her! She was alone in life, so she shall be alone in death! She shall be broken inside and out! Only then shall I allow her to finally pierce her black, empty heart!"

Sayori and Natsuki were shaken by Yuri's chilling words, but they both held their ground. The club president gripped her notebook tightly as she pleaded again,

"Please don't do this, Yuri! The game ended a few days ago already. Things have changed since then. Monika hasn't been plotting against you. She's been trying to make up for the bad things she's done too!"

Yuri was dumbstruck by Sayori's argument. The former vice president lowered her head and covered her face with her free hand as she voiced her displeasure,

"I do not understand why you are defending her, Sayori. Out of all of us gathered here, you should be the one who despises Monika the most! You sought her advice when your depression was taking root and she craftily convinced you to kill yourself!"

She then glared at Monika and accused,

"Could it be that this snake's poison has seeped into _your_ mind yet again? Has she tricked you into forgiving and forgetting her sins? Have her new lies swayed you to do her bidding!?"

Sayori furrowed her brow when she heard this. The club president stomped her foot then fiercely declared,

"Monika hasn't forced me to do anything, Yuri! Everything that I've done up until now… they're all things that I decided to do on my own! I didn't have to restart the Literature Club in this new world, but I did! I didn't have to call Monika back from this very room, but I did! I didn't have to make Monika my Vice President, but I did!"

She then brought her free hand over her heart as she earnestly proclaimed,

"More than all of that, after everything was said and done, I didn't have to become Monika's friend. But I did!"

Despair started to flood Yuri's heart as she heard Sayori's words. The purple-haired girl started to feel lightheaded as her eloquent speech started to crumble,

"T-that… doesn't make sense. Isn't Monika… the cause of all our problems? We should deal with her now w-while we have the chance! We should kill her right here, right now!"

Sayori shook her head and decisively refused,

"Killing or deleting Monika won't bring any of us happiness. If we did that, then the remorse will haunt us for the rest of our lives."

The club president gazed at Monika with compassionate eyes as she explained,

"I don't know if you've seen it, Yuri, but Monika's been haunted by her own remorse since I brought her back. Monika's been struggling all this time, but she's been hiding it. She doesn't like to seem weak after all. That's just her nature."

She then turned to Yuri and finally added,

"Monika's been carrying the same baggage that you're carrying on your shoulders right now, Yuri. I don't know how long it'll take, but I'm sure that the two of you will understand each other a little better before long. So please… let Monika go."

Sayori's words echoed in Yuri's heart and lingered in her mind. The former vice president embraced her hardbound book and laid her hand on its open pages.

Yuri wanted to bend reality yet again, but she no longer knew what she wanted to make out of it. The words that Yuri had written into the story used to flow from her mind with ease. Those words seemed to have dried up.

The desperation and hatred that had taken root in Yuri's heart, however, still remained.

The former vice president lowered her head as she weakly and ruefully admitted,

"It's… too late for me, Sayori. All this time… I have been wishing for Monika's demise. I wanted to destroy her completely… I can't stop myself anymore. That has been my only purpose these past few days… and I must see it through! I realize now that perhaps my desires are despicable, but I have resigned myself to this fate."

Yuri held her novel with trembling hands and bargained with Sayori,

"You can delete me after I have satisfied myself. Maybe I'll erase myself from the story too… that will be much neater. But... I don't care what happens to me anymore!"

As soon as she said this, Yuri suddenly heard Natsuki angrily grumble. The petite, pink-haired girl clenched her fists and then stepped up from behind Sayori. She gritted her teeth and then unleashed a tirade of her own,

"It matters to **me** , you selfish bitch! What happens to you matters to all of us! Don't go throwing away your goddamn life like it's nothing!"

Yuri raised her head in shock as she heard the furious protest. The former vice president then gasped,

"Natsuki…?"

The pink-haired girl stepped forward again and continued her assault,

"You're not the only one suffering right now, Yuri. We all had our issues from the start and we pretty much still have 'em now! We're all messed up in our own damn ways, but that doesn't mean we're worthless!"

Natsuki then raised her fists and then barked,

"If blaming other people for everything that went wrong in our lives changed our lives for the better, then wouldn't that be fucking wonderful!? But that's not gonna happen, Yuri! It's really fucking hard, but we gotta face our own problems and take charge of our own damn lives!"

Yuri was stunned for a moment, but she stubbornly insisted,

"W-we're living in a story, Natsuki - a story about a game. What we do here has no consequence - no value in the greater scheme of things…"

The pink-haired girl shook her fists and promptly countered,

"Who gives a damn about the greater scheme of things? Who cares if we live in a damn game, or a story, or a whatever!? Screw that existential dread! This life that we're living matters to us - and that's all that matters! We can make something out of this life, y'know? You can too!"

Natsuki then folded her arms and spoke more mildly,

"Our reality might be fake, but the Literature Club is our home and it's your home too. If you're having problems, we'll help you as much as we can. If you feel lonely, we'll be there for you. We can all work on this together, Yuri. We can take this whole mess of code and turn it into lives worth living, one step at a time - but only if you come home with us!"

Sayori nodded eagerly in agreement. She then extended her free hand towards Yuri and repeated her request,

"Natsuki's right, Yuri. So please... let Monika go. Come back to the clubroom with us. Okay? Then we can talk - all four of us."

Tears started to form at the corners of Yuri's eyes.

The malicious, bloodthirsty air that she had about her dispersed and a sorrowful frown formed on her lips. The former vice president then apologized in a croak,

"I'm… sorry… so sorry… I'm… I'm…"

The purple-haired girl pressed her hand on the pages of her book while Sayori and Natsuki watched with tense silence.

Sayori turned to the page of special commands on her administrative notebook and she carefully watched Yuri's every move.

Then, Yuri bended reality with her words again,

"T-throw away… the knife, Monika."

 _p_ The unearthly force that was holding Monika in place finally loosened and let the vice president throw away the knife as Yuri asked. That force then let go of Monika altogether. _/p_

Monika fell down to her knees and she fought to catch her breath. Her brow was covered in sweat while the tears that she shed drenched the collars of her shirt and blazer.

However, Monika was finally free.

…

.-

…

…

As soon as Yuri finally let Monika go, Natsuki burst towards the purple-haired girl at full sprint. She wrapped her arms around the former vice president in a tight embrace. Natsuki then buried her face into Yuri's chest and bitterly wept.

Yuri was at a loss. Natsuki's petite figure was trembling as she cried. The pink-haired girl must have been holding all her fear and anxiety in her heart up until then. All those emotions were overflowing into the tears that she shed.

Thus, Yuri gently stroked the back of the crying Natsuki's head. Before she realized it, Yuri's own tears started streaking down her cheeks as well.

Just like that, the two girls cried in each other's arms.

Sayori watched the tender moment with a warm smile on her lips. Then, she turned to Monika kneeling in silence at the end of the room.

The club president walked over to Monika and she brought out a handkerchief from her blazer pockets. She then flashed Monika her kind smile as she reassured,

"It's gonna be okay now, Monika. Things worked out in the end, somehow. It wasn't exactly how we planned to do it, but we finally reached out to Yuri."

Sayori knelt before the battered Monika and she dutifully wiped the tears and the sweat off of Monika's face. All the while, the president spoke,

"It'll take some time to iron things out, but I'm sure the four of us can put the past behind us in time. Isn't that right, Monika?"

Monika nodded weakly and she returned Sayori's smile with one of her own.

Whenever Sayori put her mind to something, Monika realized, the girl could work wonders. The cheerful bundle of sunshine who wore a pretty red bow in her hair was made to be the president of the Literature Club.

That was what Monika truly thought.

Monika was about to make another one of her cheeky comments when the words she wanted to speak were still slashed off of the script.

Sayori noticed Monika's artificial silence, so she tilted her head with curiosity and hummed,

"Is Yuri's strikethrough command still in place?"

Yuri let go of Natsuki then then assumed,

"It might be. Let me cancel that for you."

The purple-haired girl then laid her hand on the pages on her novel as she commanded,

"Monika… you are free to speak once again."

p ' _http . HTTPStatus . BAD_REQUEST (400)_ ' /p

Yuri suddenly gasped. Instead of a confirmation, Yuri saw an error message written on the pages of her novel. It was a message that she had never seen before.

All the while, Monika stayed deathly silent.

Sayori left her handkerchief in Monika's hands while she brought out her administrative notebook again. The president then asked,

"Is there something wrong, Yuri? Need some help?"

The purple-haired girl furrowed her brow and reported,

"There is some sort of error message… something about a 'bad request'."

The silent Monika's eyes widened with horror as soon as she heard this. She rose up from where she knelt with urgency and tried to shake her head and wave her hands about to call Yuri.

However, it was already too late. The inexperienced Yuri repeated her command with an emphatic voice,

"Monika! You are free to speak once again!"

p ' _http . HTTPStatus . BAD_REQUEST (400)_ ' /p

The same error message appeared on Yuri's book. **Howeverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...**

 _http . HTTPStatus . MULTIPLE_ERRORS (207)_

 _http . HTTPStatus . TOO_MANY_REQUESTS (429)_

 _http . HTTPStatus . INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR (500)_

 _http . HTTPStatus . SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE (503)_

 _http . HTTPStatus . LOOP_DETECTED (508)_

 _http . HTTPStatus . LOOP_DETECTED (508)_

 _http . HTTPStatus . LOOP_DETECTED (508)_

 _http . HTTPStatus . LOOP_DETECTED (508)_

 _http . HTTPStatus . LOOP_DETECTED (508)_

 _..._

 ** _http . HTTPStatus . TEMPORARY_REDIRECT (307)_**

Yuri's heart skipped a beat as error messages flooded the pages of her book. Each message was more frightening than the last and Yuri could hardly keep up with their sheer number. In her panic, she couldn't even understand what most of them meant anymore.

Sayori turned to Monika, hoping to see some sort of reassurance from the more experienced coder. Instead, she saw a grim shadow hanging over Monika's eyes.

Monika didn't need to see the error messages to know that something had gone horribly wrong.

All of the sudden, an unearthly gust of wind blew into the room and nearly swept the four girls off of their feet.

Monika regained her balance and she whipped her head to the wall facing the Void behind her.

There were cracks forming on the wall. They were starting from the spot that Monika slammed into when the unseen force threw her across the classroom. Those cracks were spreading quickly through the concrete and plaster and were forming deeper and deeper fractures.

The crunching noises of crumbling concrete and flaking plaster paired with the unmistakable creaking of steel rebar. The larger the fractures grew, the louder the noises became.

Then, otherworldly noises from beyond the Void started reaching the girls' ears.

All of the sudden, a frantic shout came from the opposite end of the room,

"Get out of that classroom right now!"

The girls all turned to the threshold and they saw the Protagonist standing there at the doors of the glitched classroom. He was holding onto the threshold while he was fighting to catch his breath.

The Protagonist then willed himself on and he desperately gestured to the girls as he warned,

"The classroom's gonna collapse! The void is…

 **aHR0cC5IVFRQU3RhdHVzLkNPTk5FQ1RJT05fQ0xPU0VEX1dJVEhPVVRfUkVTUE9OU0UgKDQ0NCk=**

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

...

.-

...

...


	8. LS0uIC0tLSAtLiAuIC8gLi4uLi0gLi0tLS0gLS0t

http . HTTPStatus _. CONNECTION_RESTORED (209)_

http . HTTPStatus . _RESET_CONTENT (205)_

http . HTTPStatus . _CONTINUE (100)_

* * *

 **LS0uIC0tLSAtLiAuIC8gLi4uLi0gLi0tLS0gLS0tLS0gc3RvcA**

"Get out of the classroom now! The Void's breaking up the room!"

The nameless Protagonist cried out at the top of his lungs. However, his cry was drowned out by the deafening noises of the crumbling classroom and the unearthly, howling din from the Void beyond the cracking walls.

He was about to rush right into the classroom when the wooden floor started to violently shake. An unnatural draft of deathly cold wind swept into the room through the fractured walls as well.

The draft whipped up dust and soot from the crumbling walls and formed a thick fog that crackled with unstable static. That cold wind also blew out the flame that had been eating away at Monika's burned administrative notebook and scattered the notebook's ashes out into the abyss.

In the midst of that chaos, Sayori felt chills running up her spine.

The club president could barely hear the Protagonist's desperate cries from the threshold. Even the panicked shrieks of Yuri and Natsuki were muffled before they reached Sayori's ears. There were only supposed to be a few paces of distance between them, but everyone else felt frighteningly far away.

They were all in the same room, but Sayori felt like they were worlds apart.

Sayori's body shriveled up from the cold and it became hard for her to keep her balance on the shifting floor. Her breath was fogging up before her eyes as well.

Without saying a word, Monika quietly held onto the shivering Sayori to support her. The club president felt Monika's warmth contrasting the abyssal draft. Sayori also felt Monika's heart beating together with her own.

However, Monika's heartbeat made no sound. Yuri's strikethrough command still remained and kept Monika completely silent.

The rules of the game - and the story, perhaps - were still cruelly absolute.

Sayori furrowed her brow at that thought.

She brought out her administrative notebook with her free hand and tried to think of a solution. The club president dutifully turned the pages of her notebook with her thumb as she proposed,

"Monika… I'm going to transition the scene back to our clubroom. We can't stay here."

Monika shook her head in response. The vice president then reached down and touched Sayori's notebook.

A short message then appeared on the page in Monika's handwriting,

' _The Void's already unstable as it is, Sayori. The game's on the brink of crashing…'_

' _And I don't really know exactly what the status of this 'novel' we're in is.'_

Sayori read the message then turned to Monika to complain,

"B-but we have to get out of here…! Everyone's in danger!"

Monika shook her head again and touched Sayori's notebook to write more messages,

' _The errors in the code are only local - for now. The glitched classroom is coming undone.'_

 _'It was the most vulnerable place in the game to begin with.'_

' _If the game crashes now, then there's a good chance the corruption will spread into the rest of the files.'_

' _Nowhere will be safe - our character files will be in danger too._ '

Sayori gasped as she read Monika's messages and a concerned frown formed on her lips. She then turned to Monika and asked,

"What should we do, then?"

Monika soundlessly hummed in thought. Then she touched Sayori's notebook once more and wrote,

' _It's too dangerous to move now. Let's wait this out and hope for the best.'_

' _Once this shaking stops, we should all get out of here on foot.'_

' _As soon as we get out, we'll close the door, quarantine the glitched classroom and then delete it for good.'_

The vice president then started diligently writing instructions for her plan on Sayori's notebook through her thoughts. Monika laid down the sequences of code that she pre-wrote into a single command for Sayori to enter.

Monika then closed the administrative notebook and returned it to Sayori's blazer pocket. She then patted Sayori's shoulder and wore a small yet cryptic smile.

Sayori smiled back at Monika. She appreciated Monika's encouragement but she couldn't help but feel that something else was going on through Monika's mind.

For a brief moment, the small smile on Monika's lips seemed bittersweet - and uncertain.

Surrounded by the cold, howling winds, the otherworldly noise and the shifting floors beneath them, Sayori returned Monika's embrace. She closed her eyes and took shelter in her vice president's arms.

In Sayori's mind, she imagined that there was a storm that was brewing right there in the glitched classroom. She saw rain clouds that were hanging low and thick all around them and a storm surge that swept into the shore from an abyssal sea.

Sayori, frightened by her own thoughts, held Monika closer to her and muttered beneath her breath,

"I want... these rain clouds to go away…!"

http . HTTPStatus . _REQUEST_TIMEOUT (408)_

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http . HTTPStatus . _CONTINUE (100)_

After a short while, to Sayori's surprise, the tremors that rocked the classroom slowly subsided. The unearthly draft from the Void settled down somewhat and the thick fog of dust and soot started clearing out as well.

Sayori opened her eyes and saw the calmer scene around them. She then let go of Monika and stole a glance of her vice president's emerald green eyes.

Monika looked surprised by the sudden calm, but she was also clearly relieved. The storm that Sayori imagined must have passed.

For now.

The coldness of the draft still remained, after all, and the Void still loomed around the disintegrating, glitched classroom.

As the fog of dust and soot settled, Monika and Sayori finally managed to see through its smoky veil. The two girls saw the silhouette of the nameless Protagonist rushing into the room from the threshold. They also saw the silhouettes of Yuri and Natsuki at the middle of the room.

Sayori turned to Monika and beamed,

"This is our chance to get going!"

Monika nodded, but she also cautiously pointed to the Protagonist's silhouette. Sayori turned to the silhouette and she saw that he wasn't heading in a straight line.

Before Sayori could figure out what was going on, the Protagonist then called out from behind the fog,

"Is everyone alright?"

Sayori cupped her hands over her mouth and called back,

"I'm with Monika! She can't speak, but we're both alright here!"

The Protagonist sighed with with genuine relief and said,

"That's good to hear. We all need to get out of the room as quickly as possible - but we have to be careful. The story's stabilized again, but the tremors did a number on the floor. The foundation isn't looking so good either."

Sayori dared to look down at the ground beneath them and she gasped.

Just like the Protagonist said, the wooden floor of the glitched classroom was cracked and splintered. The fractures from the Void-facing wall continued all the way into the classroom floor like a snake of cracked concrete and chipped wood. Through those fractures, Monika and Sayori saw the same Void that was swirling beyond the wall.

More than that, the entire section of the floor that Monika and Sayori were standing on seemed to have sunk lower than the the sections on the other side of the fractures.

Sayori wiped the beads of cold sweat that were forming on her brow as she asked,

"W-what about Natsuki and Yuri? Are they alright?"

This time, the smallest member of the club replied with a coughing fit and a rattled tone,

"I-I'm fine too… just fell on my ass, though... so I'm a little shaken up. The problem is… our little villain Yuri here… she fainted when s-shit went down."

Sayori's heart skipped a beat as she gasped,

"Yuri fainted!?"

Natsuki coughed again and her silhouette seemed to pick itself off of the ground,

"Yeah… but she's alright. I just asked the Protag to help me bring her out of the room. Yuri's big, but she's surprisingly light. You and the Veep should go on ahead."

Sayori tilted her head with curiosity as she asked,

"Surprisingly light…?"

Monika, however, patted Sayori's shoulder and gave her a nod. The two of them had to get going.

With that, the club president took a deep breath and turned to the foggy, treacherous path of splintered wood and fractured concrete before them.

..-

.-

.

..-

Sayori led the way through the fog-swept, sunken section of the glitched classroom with small, cautious steps while Monika followed half a pace behind.

The sunken section was still connected to the rest of the glitched classroom, but it formed a steep incline that the girls had to climb.

Every so often, the ground beneath their feet trembled weakly. The section would then sink slightly lower as the incline would grow slightly steeper.

The longer that Monika and Sayori took, the harder their climb became. However, the fog still made it hard for the girls to see clearly beyond the lengths of their arms, so they couldn't exactly rush through it.

Even though the tremors stopped, the two girls were going to have to tread lightly. One false step could send them tumbling down into the frigid unknown.

Monika watched the glitched classroom that was falling apart all around her and Sayori. The wooden floor creaked beneath their feet while the damaged concrete foundations of the sunken foundation continued its gradual shift.

All the while, the wood and the concrete alike flickered into pixels and lines of unstable, corrupted code.

The glitched classroom was already an unsettling place to begin with, Monika thought. However, it was also the place where Monika spent most of her time in the original playthrough.

When Monika's eyes were first opened to the reality of the game, she visited that wretched room and then turned it into her sanctuary. She wrote her grand plans and schemes to have her own ending there. She came running to that room when she wanted to be alone.

It was the place where she first saw the Player through the 'Hole in the Wall'. It was also the place where she first spoke with the Player - until she was finally 'deleted'.

Thinking about it that way, Monika felt as if the glitched classroom was as much of a part of her life as her own character file.

It was the place where she wielded the most power. It was the place where she sought refuge. It was the place where she could be alone with herself.

Now, that part of Monika's life was coming undone - just like the knots she untied to set the events of the original playthrough in motion.

Those untied knots unleashed the demons that lurked in the hearts and minds of her clubmates. Slowly but surely, Sayori, Natsuki and Yuri plunged into horrifying spirals of despair - their own personal hells.

Perhaps, Monika thought, she also untied her own knot somewhere along the way. Perhaps she unleashed her own demon upon herself without her knowing.

She then remembered the advice that she once gave Sayori,

" _The tiniest hiccups can cause the largest problems - and they're usually the hardest ones to find._ "

All of the sudden, Monika stopped in her tracks and she flinched in silence. Her breathing was quiet, but it quickly grew labored and heavy. The pain that she felt in her back also became sharp. Monika's vision then started blur as her strength threatened to leave her.

Finally, Monika tasted blood in her mouth.

Ironic, Monika lamented. This must have been karma.

The sanctuary that Monika made for herself in hell was already breaking apart. Now, her own body was surrendering to the pain that assailed her.

The pain and suffering that Monika brought to everyone in the Literature Club was finally coming back to bite her.

Monika's body felt like it could break apart at any moment and the pain that she felt was already beyond description. However, the pain that she felt in her heart made her feel awfully heavy yet empty inside.

All the while, the vice president's mind was flooded with the remorseful thought that she had when Yuri forced her to point a knife at herself not too long ago,

' _Perhaps, I never should have come back._ '

Sayori and the others already suffered too much because of her, Monika thought. They didn't deserve to to be with the person who once drove them all to the brink of madness. They didn't deserve somebody who spoke poisonous words and planned their demise.

' _Perhaps, I never should have come back…'_

Even after Sayori gave her a second chance, the Literature Club was doing much better because of Sayori. The club was in much better shape in Sayori's hands than it ever was when Monika was the president.

Sayori would have done just as well - or even better - if Monika wasn't there.

' _Perhaps, I never should have come back…!'_

All of the sudden, the creaking of the wood beneath Monika's feet grew louder and the flickering of corrupted data went haywire. Another tremor shook the confines of the glitched classroom and pried the snake-like fissure on the floor wide open.

The concrete foundations of the sunken section finally snapped and the section broke off from the rest of the classroom. It was almost as if the floor couldn't support their weight anymore!

Sayori shrieked in panic as she nearly lost her balance. The club president saw the unnerving sight of the cold, uncaring expanse of the Void through the gap up close.

Why was this happening!? Didn't the Protagonist say that the story was already stable?

Natsuki and the Protagonist had just brought Yuri past the threshold when they felt the new tremor rocking the glitched classroom. The two of them came rushing back into the room, but they saw the gap between them and the broken section was already wide.

It was at that time that Monika figured out what was going on. She remembered what Natsuki casually said just a few moments ago,

" _Yuri's big, but she's surprisingly light!_ "

Monika remembered that Yuri's file took up the least space in the characters folder - just shy of thirty kilobytes. Sayori's file, on the other hand, was close to sixty while Monika's was the largest as a hundred and thirty-four.

Going by that, Monika realized that her file was larger than all the other club members combined!

That must have been why the sunken section kept shifting and shifting on its own, Monika thought. The brittle floor and foundation couldn't support her weight as well as Sayori's. The foundation of the sunken section snapped because of Monika!

A shadow hung over Monika's eyes as she came to that realization. Once again, Sayori was in danger because of her.

The club president stood at the edge of the broken section and faced the swirling expanse of the Void below. She was frozen by her fear.

Sayori had to leap towards Natsuki and the Protagonist, but she was afraid. She didn't know if she would make it.

Seeing Sayori's hesitation made Monika's quiet heart sink. The vice president gritted her bloody teeth and thought,

' _No, Sayori! You have to keep going!_ '

Monika shored up her willpower and hobbled up towards Sayori. The vice president braved the shifting ground beneath her feet and the howling winds from the Void below.

The pain that Monika felt was immense and the sounds of the Void chilled her heart, but Monika couldn't bear to see Sayori getting hurt again.

Cold sweat formed on Monika's brow and droplets of blood seeped out of her mouth. The blood and sweat snaked down Monika's cheeks and dripped down to the crackling floor until she caught up to Sayori.

The vice president then laid her hands on Sayori's shoulders.

Sayori wanted to turn around to face Monika, but the vice president held her in place.

Monika didn't want Sayori to see the tears that were glistening in her eyes. Even though her words were stricken, the vice president still wailed,

strike "The Literature Club needs you, Sayori. There's nothing left for me here!" /strike

"M-Monika!? What are you…?"

Before Sayori could finish her sentence, Monika gathered every ounce of strength that she had left and then pushed the club president forward over the ledge.

After that, everything seemed to slow down in Monika's eyes.

She watched as Sayori sailed over the snake-like fracture and towards the other side of the room.

The vice president's vision was already blurred, but she watched Sayori flying towards Natsuki and the Protagonist. The pink-haired girl and the boy caught the club president by her hands and brought her back onto solid ground.

Monika, on the other hand, found herself falling backwards in the opposite direction towards the Void.

She shouldn't be sad, Monika told herself as she fell head first into the frigid expanse. After all, she was able to save Sayori that time around.

The vice president opened her bloodied mouth and weakly mused,

strike "I'm sorry for everything that I've done..." /strike

Monika then closed her tearful eyes and felt herself tumbling into the unknown.

This must have been how Sayori felt when she was on the noose. She was at the threshold to the unknown, Monika thought.

In that threshold, Monika saw rain clouds - thick rain clouds that wouldn't go away.

strike "Now, everyone can be happy." /strike

As soon as Sayori landed on the solid ground, the club president whirled around towards Monika. A horrified look dawned upon Sayori's face as she helplessly watched her vice president falling into the Void.

The club president clenched her fists and frantically screamed,

"MONIKA!"

 **http . HTTPStatus . CONNECTION_CLOSED_WITHOUT_RESPONSE (444)**

* * *

..-

.

.

..-

 _http . HTTPStatus . UNPROCESSABLE_ENTITY (422)_

..-

,

.

..-

 _http . HTTPStatus . GONE (410)_

.-

void()

.

..-

 _http . HTTPStatus . PROCESSING (102)_

.-

 _"Monika . chr" does not exist_

.

..-

 _div class="flash notice" . "Story properties automatically saved". /div_

.-

.

..-

 _http . HTTPStatus . PERMANENT_REDIRECT (308)_

.-

.

..-

 _ **http . HTTPStatus . CONTINUE (100)**_


	9. Author

**Author**

Yuri's eyes shot wide open as she came to on the ground of the regular school hallway. She found herself seated down on the tiled floor with her back pressed to the plaster walls. From where she sat, she was facing the windows where the tranquil sight of the orange, afternoon sky greeted her through the glass.

However, Yuri's heart was anything but tranquil.

The chaos from the tremors and the frigid, otherworldly wind of the Void was the last thing that Yuri remembered before she passed out. The ground wasn't shaking anymore, but the purple-haired girl was still rattled by it all.

More than that, Yuri was still holding onto the trigger that finally set that chaos into motion - her copy of _The Portrait of Markov_.

Yuri dared to open the pages of her novel. She quietly hoped that everything that happened in the glitched classroom was just some sort of wicked nightmare.

The myriad of html error codes that Yuri saw, however, were all still there on the pages. There were too many of them to count by then.

Seeing those error codes again made Yuri's head spin. The past half hour was nothing but a blur to her. Yuri couldn't even believe that she had the heart to do what she did to Monika in that time.

The enmity and hatred that Yuri had for the former club president spilled over like acid and corroded everything that it could touch. Even Yuri's own heart.

It was almost as if Yuri were possessed.

Yuri shook her head and forcefully tried to whisk away those thoughts. She made it out alive, she told herself. The purple-haired girl then wondered where everyone else was.

As soon as she did, Yuri heard Sayori's frantic shriek. It was coming from the open door to the glitched classroom.

The club president was calling her vice president's name with absolute terror,

" **MONIKA!** "

Over... and over... and over…

Before long, Sayori's distant voice cracked into bitter weeping.

Yuri was still lightheaded from the whole ordeal, but her heart was trembling in fear. Her imagination was running wild and painted a grim picture in her mind. So, she closed her error-ridden book and held it in one arm as she carefully picked herself up from the floor.

The purple-haired girl kept her free hand on the walls of the hallway for support as she slowly hobbled towards the door.

Once she reached the threshold, Yuri looked into the glitched classroom. She was horrified by what she saw.

Natsuki and the Protagonist were standing at the edge of the broken floor of the classroom while Sayori knelt down on the floor between them. All the while, the club president sobbed and wailed into the swirling expanse of the Void.

From the threshold, Yuri only saw the club president's back. She couldn't see what kind of face Sayori was making in that moment.

Yuri didn't want to know.

The helpless Sayori then covered her face with her hands as she croaked out with a weak, dismayed voice,

"We were… supposed to have… a wonderful festival... with everyone, Moni…! All of us!"

In spite of Sayori's passionate words, only the unearthly howls of the Void's frigid winds answered the club president's cry.

Yuri's heart sharply ached as the gravity of the situation finally became clear to her. _The_ _Portrait of Markov_ slipped from Yuri's grasp and the hardbound book dropped to the hallway floor with a loud, dull thud.

Natsuki whipped her head back towards the threshold when she heard this. She then saw the crestfallen Yuri holding onto the frame of the sliding door.

A tired shadow hung over Natsuki's eyes. She laid a consoling hand on the grieving Sayori's shoulder for a short while. Then, she let go and then marched over towards Yuri at the threshold.

The purple-haired girl saw Natsuki approaching her, so she asked with a frail voice,

"Natsuki… please tell me… that this is not what I think it is…"

The pink-haired girl faced Yuri with a grim, shrouded expression but she kept her silence. She didn't know what to say.

So, Yuri let go of the threshold and laid her hands on Natsuki's shoulders as she begged,

"Natsuki! Please, tell me…!"

Natsuki promptly looked into Yuri's eyes and bluntly answered,

"Monika's gone, Yuri."

Yuri winced from Natsuki's words. She shook her head with disbelief, hoping that Natsuki was lying.

The purple-haired girl's eyes then started to glisten with tears as she tried to bargain with reality,

"No… that cannot be… Monika was just standing there, and..."

Natsuki interrupted Yuri and rebutted,

"I saw Monika go, Yuri! I… saw it with my own two eyes. The Veep helped Sayori make it over the edge, but… she fell into the Void herself because of it."

Yuri's tearful eyes then shot over to the kneeling Sayori and the swirling Void beyond the edge of the broken floor. The club president was absolutely devastated as she hung her head low.

The purple-haired girl then had a dreadful realization - everything that Monika said during their encounter must have been true!

Monika really must have been trying to atone. Monika really must have been trying to reach out to Yuri.

Rather than putting their differences aside, however, Yuri unleashed hell on the former club president that she once despised - and Yuri prevailed.

Monika was gone.

Yuri got exactly what she wanted in the heat of her feverish madness, but the purple-haired girl wasn't happy at all. She felt Monika's blood drying on her trembling hands.

The purple-haired girl barely laid a hand on Monika, but she knew that her words cut deep into the former club president's heart.

Yuri then felt the tears in her eyes streaking down her cheeks as she lamented,

"I mocked Monika and said that… no one would cry for her if she took her own life."

Her eyes then wandered back to the weeping Sayori as she ruefully corrected herself,

"I… couldn't have been further from the truth..."

.-

.

..-

Natsuki was at her wit's end.

The pink-haired girl wanted to try and comfort Yuri somehow, but she didn't know what to say. Just like everyone else, she was rattled by everything that happened in the glitched classroom. She was barely keeping herself together with sheer willpower, but Natsuki knew that she was nearing her limits.

When it came to dealing with other people, Natsuki felt as if she was only slightly better than Monika. Seeing Yuri and Sayori in tears like that made Natsuki feel totally helpless. That feeling gnawed at Natsuki's soul and pissed her off.

Natsuki wanted to scream and shout and curse the world they were in at the top of her lungs! However, Natsuki knew that it would be pointless.

She'd only be crying out into the otherworldly wind.

It was at that time, however, that Natsuki realized something. She wasn't the only one who managed to stay quiet there in the glitched classroom. The nameless Protagonist - the only male member of the Literature Club - was still standing beside the crying Sayori in absolute silence.

Natsuki took a deep breath and gathered what inner strength she had left. Then, she marched towards the Protagonist and spoke her unfiltered thoughts out loud,

"You've been awfully quiet all this time, Protagonist. You probably know what the hell's going on, don't you? You came here just before the tremors started - then you said the story 'stabilized' or something when it stopped. Can't be a coincidence."

The Protagonist didn't reply. He simply dug his hands into his pockets and kept facing the swirling Void before him.

Natsuki grumbled at his silence. She clenched her fists and impatiently lashed,

"Hey, asshole - don't you fucking ignore me! I'm in the mood to beat the crap out of something right now and, boy oh boy are you tempting me right now!"

The Protagonist heaved a sigh and answered with a sorrowful tone,

"If you want to push me into the Void too... go right ahead. I wouldn't blame you if you did. Come to think of it, I probably deserve it."

Natsuki was taken aback by that response, but she gritted her teeth and demanded,

"Just answer my goddamn question, you prick! Do you know what the hell's going on!?"

The Protagonist lifted up his head and replied,

"I do know what's going on. I have a full record of it, actually - or at least a rough sketch of how things were supposed to be."

Natsuki furrowed her brow and asked,

"What do you mean 'how things were supposed to be?'"

The Protagonist brought his hands out of his pockets and he curiously looked at them. He then thoughtfully folded his arms and conceded,

"You know what, this wasn't exactly the kind of conversation that I had in mind… but screw it. I don't have a lot of time left. There's no more point in hiding it."

Natsuki steeled her stance as she watched the Protagonist's back with suspicion. Meanwhile, the tearful Yuri managed to wipe her tears and raise her head as she listened to the confrontation.

Sayori, on the other hand, kept her head low and stayed absolutely still where she knelt.

After a thoughtful moment of silence, the Protagonist finally revealed,

"I am the author of this story, 'Elias_Pedro'. The Protagonist - or what's left of him - is my avatar in this story."

Natsuki and Yuri gasped when they heard this. The purple-haired girl scrambled for her hardbound novel that dropped on the floor. She frantically flipped through its pages and soon found the story description for 'Post-Credits'.

Yuri then confirmed with a stammer,

"It's true… the author of the story is this 'Elias_Pedro' fellow…"

Natsuki furrowed her brow and thought out loud,

"Elias? Isn't that the name that the Protagonist had before or something?"

'Elias' nodded with his back turned to the girls as he confirmed,

"That's right. I also played Doki Doki Literature Club as 'Elias' in the original playthrough."

Yuri closed her book and brought it with her as she marched towards Elias as well. The purple-haired girl then joined Natsuki and firmly accused,

"If what you just said is true, then... that means that everything that has happened to us - from 'Our Reality' to 'Post-Credits' - was your doing! All this time, I felt like I was possessed by something that I could not understand. Now, I can see why…!"

Yuri then held her book close to her heart and recounted with a horrified tone,

"I manipulated Monika with the sentences that I wrote into the story through html, but you manipulated this universe and everyone in it with entire chapters! Every word that you wrote and entered into this word processor has led us to this tragedy, have they not!?"

Elias thoughtfully hummed and joined his hands behind his back as he replied,

"It's hard to explain, but that's not entirely true."

Natsuki stomped her feet and was about to retort with a growl when Yuri laid a hand on her shoulder. The purple-haired girl then urged,

"Let him speak, Natsuki. I wish to know the truth."

Natsuki wanted to argue with Yuri, but she saw determination burning in the purple-haired girl's eyes. So, Natsuki folded her arms and held her tongue.

A gust of frigid wind blew into the classroom from the Void and prompted the author to continue,

"Yuri. Do you know the saying about there being two types of writers?"

Yuri came forward and guessed,

"Are you talking about 'architects' and 'gardeners', Elias?"

"Yeah - that's the one. The 'architects' plan out entire stories right down to the last detail while the 'gardeners' plant their stories like seeds and let them grow."

Elias then turned to his left and gave Yuri and Natsuki a sidelong gaze as he explained,

"I've always been an 'architect' type of writer, but I tried to do something different when I wrote the 'Post-Credits' series. I tried to be a little bit of both."

Yuri held her novel tightly and asked,

"What do you mean by a little bit of both?"

Elias turned back to the Void as he explained,

"I started the series as a full-fledged 'architect', but I tried to become more and more of a 'gardener' as things went along. I had a full storyboard for 'Our Reality' that had more production notes than the story itself. Then, when I wrote 'Strings', I was less rigid. I just gave the story a starting point, a few midpoints and an ending point. The story - or rather, the sentient Monika and Sayori - then filled the gaps on their own."

The author then heaved a sigh and recalled,

"Yuri. Didn't you say that you realized you guys were in a novel in 'Strings', right?"

The purple-haired girl looked down to her book and replied,

"T-that's right. I was only a passing reference in 'Strings', but I felt that something odd was taking place. I found the html code of the word processor at work by accident… so I copied what processes I could into this book. I kept this hidden from everyone."

Elias scratched the back of his head and sighed,

"Yeah - even I didn't know you could manipulate html until I started seeing that crazy Base64 in Chapter 4. Then the chapter names started getting encrypted in Base64 too."

"How did you know it was me, Elias?"

"Hmm… well, your character file in the original game had a ton of Base64 text in it, Yuri. It had to be either you or Monika… but Monika didn't know that the format changed until you told her."

A frown formed on Yuri's lips as she wondered,

"If you knew it was me, then why didn't you stop me?"

"Well, Yuri… when it came to the 'Post-Credits' story, I decided to be a 'gardener' completely. I just planted the seed of the story and let it grow on its own. I had a starting point written in, but I didn't set an ending. After the first two chapters, I hardly had any influence on the story. I was happy to be part of the audience. I even made sure that the Protagonist's poems didn't trigger anyone's scenes. That way, you girls would be the ones shaping the story on your own!"

Elias then lowered his head and bleakly recalled,

"However, when the story started going off the rails halfway through Chapter 5, I couldn't stand by and watch. The problem is, the story didn't recognize me as its author anymore."

Yuri tilted her head with curiosity and argued,

"Your name is still listed as the story's author, Elias."

"Yeah - but the word processor doesn't accept input from me anymore. It just charts the things that happen in the story... just like the history log from the game, actually. I couldn't edit the story and rip it apart like I did when I was an 'architect'."

Natsuki came forward this time and asked,

"So you lost control of the story, then."

"In more ways than one, Natsuki. The only real power I have left over the story is starting chapters and submitting them as soon as they're finished. If I wanted to actively change the story, I had to use this avatar - the Protagonist. The word processor charted his words and actions too, after all. That's why i'm here now..."

Elias then looked down to his hands again and sighed,

"But it's already too late for me. This avatar won't last for much longer."

The author then turned around for the first time and he faced Natsuki and Yuri. The right side of his sprite was glitching out and breaking up into chunks of pixels while his right eye was blank and flickering with corrupted data.

The author's sprite was coming undone.

.-

.

..-

Natsuki stumbled back in horror when she saw the author's corrupted sprite. The pink-haired girl screamed,

"What the fuck is that!?"

Elias pointed to himself with his left hand and promptly explained,

"The sprite for the nameless Protagonist doesn't exist in the game files, Natsuki. Monika and Sayori made it for the Protagonist as a placeholder and they used their own resources. Now that Monika's gone, my sprite's corrupted and the data's going to corrode."

The author then laughed with self-deprecation and lamented,

"A formless, voiceless being can't exactly make an impact in a story like this - let alone change the things that happened here. Once this avatar breaks apart, I'll be no good anymore."

As soon as Elias said this, Sayori finally stirred from where she knelt. She raised up her head and turned to the author. Then, with a solemn voice, she asked,

"Why, then, did you start this story in the first place, Elias? Why did you have to bring us through hell like this? Why did you write us into a tragedy!?"

Elias turned to Sayori, but the club president didn't look away from his half-glitched face. The author then looked into Sayori's blue eyes and earnestly insisted,

"I didn't write the Post-Credits series as a tragedy, Sayori. Far from it."

He then turned towards the Void and admitted,

"Doki Doki Literature Club helped me through a very difficult time in my life. I was depressed and my life felt like it was stuck in a cold, uncaring abyss - just like this swirling Void here. The stories you guys told through the game, however, reached out to me and helped pulled me out of that abyss."

Elias then chuckled as he added,

"It's not just me either. I don't know how many there are out there, but I'm sure your stories reached out to a whole lot of other people in the internet too. More than a million people downloaded the game, after all, last time I checked."

Sayori, Yuri and Natsuki gasped when they heard this and the three of them exclaimed all at once,

"A million people!?"

"Crazy, right? You guys should see some of the fanart that your stories inspired - and the other fanfics that people wrote about you guys. There's this place on Reddit called r/DDLC too… but I digress..."

A bittersweet smile then formed on Elias' lips as he laid his glitched right hand over his heart. Elias traced the strings of corruption spreading from the right side of his avatar's body to its left. The author, however spoke with a mellow tone,

"As for me - I wanted to thank you all with a story of my own. I wanted to come back to the club even for a little while and spend time with the girls who… may very well have saved my life."

A frown then formed on Elias' lips as he groaned,

"The problem is, this little 'thank you' of mine turned into a disaster. So - I'm terribly sorry. I don't know what else I can do..."

Sayori saw the dejected look on Elias' face and she felt the guilt from his words. The author wasn't lying to them. He really felt like it was the end.

The club president, however, thought otherwise.

Sayori laid a hand on Elias' left, unglitched shoulder and confidently countered,

"There's still something that you can do for us, Elias. This story doesn't have to be a tragedy."

Elias was puzzled by Sayori's confidence as he asked,

"What… do you mean by that, Sayori?"

Sayori then managed to wear a small smile as she explained,

"Didn't you say that the things we did here in this world would affect the story? You also made 'Post-Credits' without an ending in mind either, right?"

"Y-yeah, that's true…"

The club president then stood firmly and wholeheartedly declared,

"Well, I don't want to leave things the way that they are. I don't want it to end like this. Monika wouldn't want this - and I don't think you do either, Elias. I want to make my own ending."

Sayori then took Elias' hand. A flame of determination burned in her bright blue eyes as she implored,

"I want to save Monika, but I'll need your help."

The author saw the fire in Sayori's eyes but a shadow of doubt lingered in his heart. Elias squeezed Sayori's hand and harshly warned,

"I'm not sure if I'll be able to help - and I can't guarantee that you'll succeed. All I can do is start one last chapter - and the story will end after that... whether we like it or not. Otherwise, it will never be finished."

Elias let go of Sayori's hand and continued,

"Nothing weighs more heavily on an author's heart than an unfinished story. The stories that I couldn't finish still haunt me now… and the characters that live in them must be suffering. They all set out on their journeys that I couldn't bring myself to finish. For one reason or another, I had to discontinue them. So, until now, they're chasing goals that they'll never reach and they'll never understand why."

The author heaved a sigh as he reminisced with a pained voice,

"Many other fanfiction stories suffered the same fate in the Void of the internet - discontinued… abandoned… forgotten. I don't want you guys to go through that, Sayori. It's a fate worse than death."

Yuri and Natsuki shuddered from the author's stern warning. Neither of them could imagine such a hopeless fate. Sayori, however, didn't flinch.

The club president looked into the author's eyes and stubbornly insisted,

"I understand what you mean, Elias… but I can't stand still! One chapter is all I need. If there's a chance for me to make things right, then I'll take it and hope for the best. If you can't change this story anymore, then I will! I'll finish this story for you, Elias... I promise!"

A smile then broke out on the author's lips as he noted,

"You really do think too much about others, Sayori… but you've gotten much stronger now. You really are a wonderful person. I can't say no to you."

He then patted Sayori's head and obliged,

"I'll let you write the last chapter, Sayori. How this story ends will be entirely in your hands. But I want you to know this…"

Elias smiled at Sayori, then at Yuri and Natsuki as he promised,

"I'll be rooting for you all from the other side - every step of the way. So… this is goodbye."

The author then extended his unglitched left hand to Sayori. The club president wore a smile for the author then shook his hand. Then, the author's glitched sprite finally dissolved with flickers of green red and blue.

Sayori watched the flickers fade away as she earnestly whispered,

"Thank you. I won't let you down."

.-

.

..-

 _"Protagonist . chr" does not exist._

.-

.

..-

 _div class="flash notice" . "Story properties automatically saved". /div_

.-

.

..-

Yuri and Natsuki watched with awe as the author's sprite flickered away and disappeared before their very eyes. Sayori then brought her hand back to her side as she turned to her two clubmates,

"Yuri. Natsuki. I'm gonna ask the two of you for a really big favor. I want you to hear me out, okay?"

Natsuki faced Sayori with a worried look and asked,

"Sayori… what are you planning to do?"

The club president smiled at Natsuki said,

"I'll do exactly what I told Elias. I'll write an ending for this story - and I'll save Monika too."

Yuri then joined Natsuki and protested,

"How do you know if you can still reach her, Sayori? How certain are you that you can bring her back?"

Sayori's smile then turned bittersweet as she admitted,

"Nothing's sure in life, Yuri… but that doesn't mean I shouldn't try. That's why I need the both of you to do me a favor."

The club president then brought out her administrative notebook and she handed it to Natsuki,

"I want the two of you to look after the Literature Club for me. I don't know if I'll make it back, after all."

The pink-haired girl panicked and pushed the notebook back towards Sayori as she tried to refuse,

"H-hey…! That's your notebook, Sayori! Why are you giving it to me?"

Sayori gently placed the notebook in Natsuki's hands and corrected,

"This is gonna be _your_ notebook from now on. I want you to be the next club president, Natsuki."

Tears formed in Natsuki's eyes as her hands started to tremble. Sayori, however, embraced Natsuki and calmly reassured,

"It'll be okay, Natsuki. You can do it. I believe in you. Plus… if there's anyone in the club who can help Yuri - it's you."

Natsuki buried her face in Sayori's chest and hugged Sayori back as she wept. The former club president then softly patted her successor's back.

Sayori then let go of Natsuki and turned to Yuri. The former president then smiled at the purple-haired girl and asked,

"You used to be a Veep too, didn't you? Please help Natsuki out in any way that you can, okay?"

Yuri held her book close to her heart and as she promised,

"I shall aid her as best as I can."

As soon as Yuri said this, the howling winds from the Void strengthened. The brittle foundations of the glitched classroom started to shift yet again.

Natsuki gripped the administrative notebook in her hands as she asked with a shaky voice,

"W-what do I do, Sayori…?"

Sayori turned towards the Void and put her hands on her hips. The former president then gave her instructions,

"First thing's first. I want you and Yuri to get out of this classroom and to close the door behind you. Once you guys are out, seal the door and then run the special command that Monika wrote on the last page. That'll quarantine the glitched classroom and stop the corruption from reaching the other files. After a short while, that command will delete the glitched classroom once and for all. Easy, right?"

Natsuki's breath fogged up from the frigid wind as she dared to ask,

"What about you, Sayori? What are you gonna do?"

Sayori kept her eyes on the Void as she replied,

"Elias showed me the reviews section when I shook his hand… and the strange Base64 message that I saw there. Monika's still out there - and I'm gonna find her. But if I don't come back… I want the two of you to know that I tried."

The former club president then gave her two clubmates a sidelong glance and urged,

"So, please go. That's my last assignment for you guys as the club president."

Yuri hesitated for a moment, but she suddenly felt Natsuki's hand grab hers. The pink-haired girl then quietly ushered Yuri out of the glitched classroom.

As soon as they reached the threshold, Natsuki then turned back and called out to Sayori,

"We'll be waiting for you, Sayori! We'll be waiting for Monika too!"

Sayori flashed Natsuki a smile. Then, the pink-haired girl closed the door behind her and Yuri.

The door to the glitched classroom then flickered for a few moments until it disappeared altogether. That was the quarantine command, Sayori figured.

There was no turning back now.

Sayori felt the shifting of the ground beneath her feet grow stronger and stronger, so she took a deep breath to calm herself down. A determined smile then grew on her lips as she faced the swirling Void before her. The former club president then whispered,

"You've been alone this time, haven't you, Monika?"

She then stepped towards the edge as she continued,

"Well… you're not alone anymore!"

With that, Sayori quickened her pace and broke into a sprint. The former club president ran as her feet would take her.

Then, as soon as she reached the edge of the crumbling floor, Sayori bravely leapt into the Void.

..-

.

..-

 _http . HTTPStatus . UNPROCESSABLE_ENTITY (422)_

,

.

..-

 _http . HTTPStatus . GONE (410)_

void()

.

..-

 _http . HTTPStatus . PROCESSING (102)_

 _"Sayori . chr" does not exist_

.

..-

 _div class="flash notice" . "Story properties automatically saved". /div_

.-

.

..-

 _http . HTTPStatus . PERMANENT_REDIRECT (308)_

.-

.

..-

 _ **http . HTTPStatus . CONTINUE (100)**_

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

 _Hey… Moni?_

 _Can you hear me?_

 _If you can…_

 _Then wait for me._

 _Please._

 _I'll find you…_

 _And I'll bring you home._

 _Okay?_

 _-Sayori_


	10. Finale

**Finale**

The frigid expanse of the Void swirled around Monika as the former vice president sank helplessly into the abyss. It was like a deep, dark ocean filled with flickering and disintegrating remnants of corrupt code where the icy wind blew like an undercurrent.

Deeper and deeper into that deathly cold hell, Monika sank.

Immense pressure from the depths of that sea wrapped around the sinking Monika, threatening to crush her entire being. All the while, Monika wrapped her arms around herself as she shivered from the cold. Before long, she found herself struggling to breathe.

Monika gasped for air and her breath fogged up before her like it did in the glitched classroom. However, Monika noticed that she could hear her own voice again.

Falling into the Void must have overridden the the strikethrough command that struck out her words from the script before. That news, however, was hardly reassuring.

Monika's voice was still weak and frail as pain assaulted her battered body. The howling winds of the Void then muffled her already feeble groans. Then, on top of all that, Monika's sprite was slowly coming undone - pixel by painful pixel.

She was just like the flickering remnants of debris sinking around her.

She was nothing more than corrupt code.

Monika closed her eyes and tried to stave off those thoughts. She fought to drive out the noise of the abyssal winds around her while she tried to keep her mind off of her many pains.

Thus, Monika retreated into her own mind.

The former vice president sought warmth - any warmth - that she could hold onto in the depths of that frigid ocean. As Monika searched, her mind drifted back to the events of the past few days.

Monika remembered the impromptu duet that she played with Sayori in the clubroom. The other club members had already gone home for the day, so Monika willed a piano into existence to play 'Your Reality' for Sayori.

Halfway through the song, Sayori willed a guitar into existence then happily accompanied Monika.

The sweet bars of music resounded in Monika's mind and carved out a small yet bittersweet smile on her lips that were still trembling from the cold.

Monika then imagined the hot breakfast sandwiches that Sayori made for dinner on the third day.

The former vice president remembered the whole scene by heart. Sayori made open-faced ham sandwiches topped with sunny side up eggs for herself and for Natsuki and a tomato-and-avocado toast for Monika.

Monika knew that Sayori was often clumsy and forgetful - but Sayori remembered that Monika was a vegetarian. The former vice president thanked Sayori with a joke back then, but she really appreciated the thought that went into that sandwich.

Finally, Monika looked back to the bright encouraging smile that Sayori gave her just before she followed Yuri into the hallway.

If it weren't for that smile, Monika thought, she might not have faced Yuri as wholeheartedly as she did. Monika wouldn't have fought as fiercely as she did.

All of those memories that Monika had came true because Sayori reached out to her three days ago. Sayori brought Monika out of the glitched classroom and set everything into motion again.

Knowing that, Monika started to wonder,

' _I did the right thing, didn't I? I didn't have any other choice...'_

From the very beginning, Monika knew that Sayori dreamed of the Literature Club reaching the school festival. Sayori even talked about the festival in her sleep.

That must have been why, in spite of everything that Monika did, Sayori called her back.

Sayori wanted to continue the script and reach the school festival - and to see what waited for them beyond that day.

If that was the case, however, Monika felt that Sayori didn't really need her help to reach that goal.

In those few yet fateful days, Sayori bravely faced the problems that arose and resolved them more or less on her own.

Of course, Monika shared her experiences as the former club president with Sayori and taught her as much coding as she could.

However, Sayori breezed past most of the issues without a hitch. Sayori hardly needed the complex Python codes that Monika taught her. Sayori didn't even need to use her position as club president to keep things in order.

Instead, Sayori faced her problems with music, breakfast sandwiches and smiles that shone brighter than the morning sun.

Monika, on the other hand, felt like she was the exact opposite.

Without her administrative notebook, Monika felt powerless.

Without her authority as the club president - or even as the vice president - her presence was thinner than air.

Without her sanctuary in the glitched classroom, she was nothing more than a frightened girl.

In all honesty, Monika felt that the only thing that gave her courage in those past few days was Sayori's smile.

"... Sayori…"

Tears started to form in Monika's closed eyes as she said the cheerful girl's name.

Even in the depths of the Void, Monika realized, her mind was filled with thoughts of Sayori.

There were still so many things that Monika wanted to tell that girl who wore a pretty red bow in her coral pink hair.

If only she had a little more time, Monika would have told Sayori everything.

But it was already too late.

Even then, Monika still held onto a small, selfish wish. She had the right to that much, didn't she?

As she sank there in the depths of the frigid Void, Monika wanted to remember the smile that - even for a short while - gave her meaningless existence a purpose. She wanted to see the peaceful oceans in Sayori's bright blue eyes and get lost in them as she often did. She even wanted to gently pat Sayori's head one more time.

Monika wanted to burn those images into her memory and take them with her… in a bottle of happy thoughts.

That way, Monika could gently hold that bottle in her arms and smile... as she went to sleep one last time.

For once, she wanted to have a happy dream.

…

…

Just as Monika's consciousness was fading away, she started to hear sounds coming from the distance. It was a multitude of voices muffled by the howling winds of the Void. They were cries and cheers of support that seemed to come from worlds away.

The voices grew louder and turned into a chant. Slowly, but surely, the chanting overcame the winds and reached Monika's ears clearly.

Then, the chanting and the winds both fizzled and gave way to an odd yet tranquil silence.

Puzzled, Monika dared to open her eyes once more. She wanted to see what was going on.

Monika found herself sinking deeper into the depths of the dark Void, but the pressure of the abyss seemed to have eased somehow.

Then, she noticed a figure approaching her through the ocean of darkness and corrupt code. The figure fearlessly dove deeper and deeper into the Void and never slowed down.

Soon enough, the figure drew close and broke through the flickering veil of darkness.

Monika found herself face to face with the figure and gasped.

It was Sayori!

Sayori's bright blue eyes met with Monika's emerald green.

The clumsy girl with the red bow in her hair looked winded and troubled at first. However, as soon as she saw Monika, she cast away the fatigue from her expression as she brightened up with delight.

Sayori beamed at Monika and extended her arms out wide as she thankfully cried,

"I finally found you, Moni!"

Monika's heart fluttered as she saw Sayori floating towards her. However, at the same time, a chill ran up her spine.

Bewildered questions surfaced in her mind one after another.

Why was Sayori there in the depths of the Void?

Did Monika fail to save her?

Did the corruption spread to the rest of the files?

Did everything that Monika do amount to nothing?

Monika winced at the thought of that reality. If Monika had been able to save Sayori, then she would have been able to simply disappear in peace.

If Sayori didn't make it either, then what was the point of it all!?

As Monika was lost in her thoughts, Sayori carefully drifted closer towards her.

Sayori's coral pink hair trailed behind her and the red bow that she wore fluttered as the abyssal winds tried to push her away. However, she stubbornly pressed forward and reached the panicking Monika.

Sayori then gently wrapped her arms around Monika. Her bright blue eyes glistened with tears, so she buried her face in Monika's chest and exclaimed,

"Monika! I'm glad… I'm… so glad… I got to see you again! I was so scared…"

Monika felt Sayori's arms wrapped around her. They were warm.

The former vice president felt her trembling heart calm down as Sayori's warmth surrounded her. All the while, the wavering pressure of the Void grew much more bearable. The frigid winds of the undercurrent calmed down as well.

Despite this, Monika's expression still soured as she ruefully guessed,

"Sayori… I wasn't able to save you, was I?"

Sayori pulled back at first, surprised that Monika could speak again. Then, she shook her head and firmly reassured her former vice president,

"You saved me, Moni. I made it to the other side. Natsuki and Eli… I mean, the Protagonist, caught me. It's a long story, but I decided to come here after you."

Monika's brow then furrowed as she bitterly demanded,

"Why did you come after me!? Why did you waste your time… your life… your festival, on someone like me!? You're the club president, aren't you? The Literature Club needs you - not me!"

Sayori shook her head again and she patiently reassured Monika once more,

"Natsuki's the club president now - she has my administrative notebook too! Yuri, on the other hand, will be her Veep."

The coral pink-haired girl looked Monika in the eyes and added,

"The Literature Club also needs you as much as me, Moni! Despite what Natsuki says, she takes your writing tips of the day seriously and she keeps them in mind. Yuri also likes it when you delegate tasks to her from time to time. It really helped her feel like she was a part of the club, even in the original playthrough. She was just too shy to tell you before. Also - you've helped me so much in these past few days as my vice president!"

Sayori then then took Monika's hands in hers as she warmly smiled,

"So - with that said - I'm not wasting my time at all, Moni! Ahehe~"

There it was again, Monika thought. It was the smile that shone brighter than the sun.

That smile shone so brightly that it shed light into the dark expanse of Monika's empty heart.

Monika was touched by Sayori's words and the bright smile that she wore. However, Monika still couldn't understand Sayori.

What did Sayori see in someone like her?

Sayori noticed Monika's troubled reaction. So, she squeezed her former vice president's hands and frankly admitted,

"You know, Moni. These past few days, I was only barely keeping things together. I know that I'm a klutz - I make a lot of mistakes. I'm an airhead too and I forget a lot of things."

The former president then chuckled as she reminded,

"Remember on the second day - in 'Strings' - when we tried to run the introduction scene together. We had to restart six times because of me! Seventh time was the charm!"

Sayori heaved a sigh then wore an earnest smile for Monika,

"I was able to make it through because of you, Moni. You were there for me. Whenever I got myself in a pickle, I knew that you'd help me out. I even read the transcript from the past few chapters. Even the words that were slashed off the script."

Sayori then wiped the tears from the sides of Monika's eyes as she revealed,

"You've been defending from the beginning - up until the bitter end. I've been able to smile all this time because of you, Moni~!"

Monika's heart raced when Sayori said this. More tears formed at the sides of Monika's eyes as she wore a bittersweet smile and confessed,

"Is that so? I've been keeping it together all this time because of you too, Sayori! Ahaha~ hah..."

Monika's laughter quickly ground to a halt as the former vice president started to weep. Sayori gently embraced Monika again as she whispered,

"It looks like we've been relying on each other more than we thought, huh?"

Monika nodded and wiped her tears again as she hugged Sayori back.

While Sayori held Monika in her arms, the two of them floated in the calmer depths of the dark ocean. As Sayori tenderly stroked Monika's coral brown hair, she thoughtfully recounted,

"I haven't told this to anyone else yet, but I had a really bad dream once, Moni. I dreamed that you got deleted before the game started and I was forced to be the club president right off the bat. I panicked! Oh gosh, I panicked. I didn't know what to do. The reality of it all overwhelmed me… and I ended up deleting the game."

Monika was shocked when she heard this. She let go of Sayori and asked with grave concern,

"W-why are you telling me this now, Sayori?"

Sayori joined her pointer fingers together and fidgeted as she explained,

"W-well… when I saw you falling into the Void, I felt the same way that I did in that dream. I had a feeling that I knew what you were thinking, Moni. You've been keeping your feelings to yourself all this time, after all - just like I did before."

"H-how did you know?"

"Hmm… I guess you could say that I started to understand you in these past few days, Monika. You were going through the exact same spiral to depression that I did in the original playthrough. I saw the signs one after the other."

Sayori then laid a hand on her heart as she passionately declared,

"That's why I've decided, Moni. I'll be here for you, but I want you to be here for me too! I want us to help each other out just like we've been doing so far. I want us to go to school together. I want us to eat together. I want us to keep sharing poems with each other. I want us to keep building our world and our story together!"

Sayori looked into Monika's eyes then wholeheartedly affirmed,

" I want us to chase away each other's rain clouds!"

As Sayori said this, the darkness of the abyss around them mellowed and the corrupt code of the debris fizzled away. The bits of Monika's sprite that had been coming undone started to come back together.

Once Monika saw this, she managed to smile earnestly. She faced Sayori and then gave her honest reply,

"Nothing would make me happier, Sayori."

"... Moni!"

Monika and Sayori smiled at each other as they held each other's hands while they floated in the gentle silence of the calmer Void.

The former club president then looked into Monika's eyes as she asked,

"So then… are you ready to come back home?"

Monika nodded, but she curiously asked,

"Yeah - but how are we getting back? The glitched classroom's deleted now, isn't it?"

Sayori then wore a crafty smile as she explained,

"We're the authors of our destinies now, Moni. If we put our heads together, I'm sure we'll find a way!"

"'Authors of our destinies'? What do you mean by that?"

"Ahehe~ it's a little hard to explain right now, but I want you to trust in me, Moni."

Sayori then gently wrapped her arms around Monika and asked,

"Close your eyes and hold onto me, Moni. I'll get us home - I promise."

Monika obliged and closed her eyes as she held Sayori close to her.

Then, Monika dreamed of home.

* * *

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* * *

 **In Our World Of Infinite Choices**

* * *

It was finally the day of the school festival.

Natsuki, the new president of the club, was sitting at the teacher's desk in the Literature Club's clubroom where their final preparations for the festival were being made.

She was the first one to the clubroom that morning, Natsuki thought. It was a habit that the new club president took up as soon as she took over the club. After all, it gave her time to wrap her head around her new role and the myriad of responsibilities that she inherited.

More than that, Natsuki liked to come to the clubroom early to write down her thoughts on the empty pages of Sayori's administrative notebook.

That morning, Natsuki brought out the notebook again and started to write.

* * *

 _Y'know Sayori, aside from the crazy stuff that you learn when you become the Literature Club President, the role's pretty tame. There hasn't been a whole lot of action - just a hell of a lot of paperwork. I've been swamped by all sorts of permits and approvals and stuff these past few days. I'm starting to appreciate the patience that you and Monika had a little better._

 _Speaking of you and Monika, it's already been four days since Yuri and I ran that command Monika left behind. We haven't heard anything from you guys in since then._

 _Aside from that, it seems that nobody else in the school remembers you and Monika at all! It's just me and Yuri who remember you guys._

 _That meant that, as things stood, the Literature Club had a grand total of two members - and the goddamn student council threatened to disband us! Those bastards…!_

 _That didn't stop me and Yuri from working our asses off, though. We took it as a challenge and we got to work recruiting members right away._

 _The very next afternoon after we got back, Yuri and I stormed the Anime Club. We brought a tray of cupcakes, a thermos of jasmine tea and my entire collection of Parfait Girls volumes - even the special edition ones and the omake._

 _We made them an offer they couldn't refuse, hehe. It felt like a mafia deal, sorta._

 _I'll tell you two more about it when you guys come back. I seriously feel like I can write a whole story about it!_

 _But, long story short, we ended up getting to borrow some members. Some of them even helped us out for the festival over the weekend. Now, we're an hour away from the main event._

 _That's all for now. Literature Club duties are calling._

 _You two'd better come back soon, you hear!_

 _Nats ^_^_

* * *

Natsuki signed off then closed the administrative notebook as she leaned back into the teacher's seat.

While Natsuki was still lost in her thoughts, the clubroom door slid open. Yuri, the new vice president of the club, then entered the room with a pitcher of water for the tea kettle.

The purple-haired girl closed the door behind her then meticulously started her meticulous tea-making routine. Natsuki watched her vice president go through the motions and remarked,

"You've really got quite a routine going there, huh? It's pretty impressive."

Yuri stole a sidelong glance at Natsuki and smiled,

"Practice makes perfect, Natsuki. The preparation of tea is an art after all."

Natsuki grinned and happily replied,

"I guess it is. That's probably why the tea turns out so well every time, lately!"

Yuri blushed when she heard this and the smile on her lips grew warm. She then set her water pitcher aside and started to arrange her tea set as she reported,

"I believe today will be a rather busy day, Natsuki."

Natsuki folded her arms and groaned at the thought of even more work,

"Well, it _is_ the day of the festival, Yuri. We really are gonna be free occupied."

"Uhm… it's _preoccupied_ , Natsuki…"

"Don't sweat the small stuff, Yuri~!"

The club president then turned her attention to the administrative notebook on the teacher's table and hummed,

"After all, we finally made it. Just like we all wanted."

Yuri nodded in agreement and smiled,

"I just had a talk with our volunteers from the Anime Club. A few of the freshmen and sophomores apparently wish to become regular members of the Literature Club next year!"

Natsuki leaned back into her chair and thoughtfully hummed,

"So the Literature Club's gonna keep going now after we graduate, huh?"

The club president then turned towards the clubroom windows and sighed,

"Gosh… if only Monika and Sayori were here to see this."

Yuri then walked over to where Natsuki sat. She gently laid a hand on Natsuki's shoulder as she reassured,

"I believe that Monika and Sayori would be proud of you, Natsuki. I'm proud of you too. You have been a wonderful club president."

Natsuki's cheeks flushed red as she bashfully denied,

"Y-you're just saying that, Yuri."

Yuri then laid a hand on her heart as she earnestly insisted,

"It's true, Natsuki. I truly believe that. Words cannot express how much I..."

While Yuri was talking, the clubroom door slid open again. A head of red hair styled in twin pigtails then poked into the threshold. It was one of the 'volunteers' that Yuri was talking about.

The red-headed girl adjusted the glasses that she wore shyly asked,

"Uhm… I'm… not interrupting anything, am I?"

Natsuki gritted her teeth with frustration as she faced the volunteer and lashed,

"Darn it, Amy - don't get the wrong idea here!"

"Eh? I wasn't thinking anything! Though… you and vice president Yuri seem really close and all..."

Before Natsuki could retort, Yuri patted the president's shoulder again and took the lead. The purple-haired girl then faced Amy and interrupted,

"In any case, Amy, you look like you have something to report."

"Ah, right! Well… there's two people who came to our hallway table just a while ago."

Amy then raised up two sheets of paper and said,

"They brought their own poems and they said they wanted to join the performance later!"

Natsuki pouted at Amy's report. She then furrowed her brow and hopped off of the teacher's chair as she lectured,

"That's actually a _good_ thing for us, Amy. Why do you look so worried about it?"

A second volunteer poked her head into the clubroom as well. This time, it was a tall girl with long, light brown hair and blue eyes who towered over Amy.

The second girl rested her chin on Amy's head - to Amy's frustration - and then reported with a carefree expression,

"It's kinda complicated, Prez~! They're two students who said they wanted to talk to you and the Veep. Plus… they're wearing our school uniform, but I don't remember seeing them here at the school before~"

Natsuki froze when she heard this and she quickly asked the second volunteer,

"W-wait a sec here, Satchie. Those two people were looking for _me and Yuri_?"

Satchie nodded and lifted her chin from Amy's head as she pointed behind her with her thumb,

"They're waiting outside in the hallway right now~!"

Yuri and Natsuki quickly turned to each other with urgency. The two of them felt like the knew who those two people were might be.

With that, Natsuki grabbed her notebook and she promptly marched out of the clubroom door. Yuri quickly followed suit.

As soon as Yuri and Natsuki crossed the threshold, they found two familiar figures standing there in the hallway.

There was a tall girl with emerald green eyes and long, coral brown hair tied into a ponytail by a white ribbon. Standing beside her was a shorter girl with bright blue eyes and short, coral pink hair adorned with a pretty red bow.

The girl with the red bow in her hair then smiled and greeted,

"It's been a while Yuri, Natsuki!"

Tears quickly formed at the sides of Natsuki's eyes as she faced the two 'visitors' in the hallway. The gasp of disbelief that escaped Natsuki's lips then gave way to a tearful grin.

Natsuki then charged straight towards the two visitors in a sprint and caught them both in a big hug as she exclaimed,

"Monika! Sayori! Y-you guys made it b-back! You… you really made it back!"

Monika and Sayori, the two former presidents of the club, hugged Natsuki back and they both gently patted the pink-haired girl's head.

All the while, Natsuki cried in her friends' arms.

Yuri, however, was much more cautious as she approached the two former presidents. She knew very well that this was the first time that she would face them since their encounter in the glitched classroom.

Knowing that, Yuri didn't know what to say to them. Yuri wanted to apologize to them, but the words she wanted to speak wouldn't leave the tip of her tongue.

As Yuri was fretting to say the words that had been bottled up in her heart, Monika let go of Natsuki and approached the purple-haired girl.

The girl with the white ribbon in her hair then calmly reassured Yuri with a smile,

"Yuri. I just want you to know that what's done is done and that it's all in the past now. It'll take time for us to iron out the issues we have with each other - but I'm sure we'll get along like we used to soon enough."

Monika then happily leaned forward towards Yuri and added,

"We made it to the festival, after all! Now, we have all the time in the world. Okay?"

A thankful smile grew on Yuri's lips. The purple-haired girl then approached Monika and extended her hand to her.

Monika and Yuri then shook hands as Natsuki and Sayori looked on with relief.

Natsuki then put her hands on her hips and grinned as she cheekily spoke,

"Well then! I guess the two of you know that the Literature Club's looking for new members."

Sayori then raised up her fists and cheerfully replied,

"If that's the case, then sign us up Natsuki! We want join the club again!"

Monika nodded in agreement and Natsuki confidently grinned,

"Sounds good to me~!"

The pink-haired club president then turned to Yuri and their two wards and said,

"Satchie. I want you to help Yuri serve the tea."

Satchie gave Natsuki a playful salute while Yuri nodded elegantly. Natsuki then turned to the bespectacled redhead and continued,

"Amy, I want you to add those two poems to our list and get them ready for the program."

The red-haired girl smiled and dutifully nodded.

Yuri, Satchie and Amy then headed back into the clubroom, leaving Natsuki alone with the two 'newcomers'.

The club president then turned to Monika and Sayori again as she admitted,

"You know, we have a shitload of things to catch up on and all… gosh, these past few days have been a hoot! But we really have our hands full right now. So, I'm gonna have to put you guys to work right away."

Sayori chuckled lightly and quickly reassured,

"It's alright, Natsuki. Actually, we wouldn't have had it any other way!"

Natsuki smiled at the newcomers again and continued,

"Well then. I'll start you two off with pamphlet duty. We still have a ton of pamphlets to hand out to the festival-goers, you know. You guys can hand them out at the school entrance. Just come back to the clubroom before noon so we can recite our poems together!"

Monika smiled at Natsuki that time and accepted,

"You got it, president Natsuki! Lead the way~!"

Natsuki proudly grinned and gestured to the newcomers to follow her,

"Let's go get those papers then, shall we?"

With that, the club president turned around and stepped into the clubroom.

Monika was about to follow suit when she felt Sayori meekly tugging at the sleeve of her blazer.

Was there something wrong?

Monika steeled her heart and she turned around to face Sayori. As soon as she did, though, the girl with the red bow in her hair tiptoed and kissed Monika on the cheek.

"S-Sayori…?"

The former club president beamed at Monika. Her bright blue eyes locked with Monika's emerald green for a precious moment that felt like an eternity. Sayori then took Monika's hand and cheerfully said,

"Welcome home, Moni!"

Before Monika could say anything, Sayori gently led her into the clubroom.

As they crossed through the threshold, Monika then remembered something that she once said. In the peak of her despair, Monika thought that there was no happiness to be found in the Literature Club.

She couldn't have been more wrong.

Her happiness has been right there at her side from the very beginning, wearing a pretty red bow in her short, coral pink hair.

 **The End**

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Hello there! This is Elias_Pedro. I have to say that I'm incredibly touched by all of the support that you've given me and the girls of DDLC for this fanfic. This story grew more magnificently than I ever dreamed and I would like to thank each and every one of you readers! All of this was possible thanks to you!

This has been a tremendous journey - and I want to thank you for accompanying me all the way to the end. The story has come to and end, but I'm sure that Monika, Sayori, Natsuki and Yuri are facing their lives with bright smiles on their faces.

With that, I bid you all farewell!


End file.
